


The Lost Son

by Arithese



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Reunion, Sickness, Trauma, injuries, seperated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-12-14
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16191560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: What if Yoshi only rescued 3 turtles when they were mutated? And one grew up without his family? What if, after 15 years, Splinter finally meets his 'Lost son?





	1. Chapter 1

You know there are moments in life you just feel something is missing. Everything is present, your family, your home, your friends but at the same time you feel like something is missing. Like something isn't right and there is this empty space to fill.

That's exactly how the three brothers felt. There was always something that would tell them something was missing. It wasn't even something concrete, it was just a weird feeling that would sometimes come up.

Leonardo was the oldest of the three brothers. He was the one wearing the blue bandana and he fought with the twin katana's. He was the leader of the team and the most responsible one.

Raphael was the second oldest and he was the hot head of the family. He wore a red bandana and he fought with the twin sais.

Donatello was the youngest although he was the tallest of the brothers. He was the smartest of the family and he was wearing a purple bandana. He fought with the bo staff.

But there was always a gaping space in the middle of the family. Something who would make them smile. Something who would keep Leonardo away from training, could calm Raphael down and could keep Donatello from his lab.

Splinter, better known as Hamato Yoshi before he was mutated, felt the tension in their family, and his mind kept wandering to the day he found his 3 mutated sons. And he just couldn't forget how he used to buy 4 turtles. And until this day he didn't know what has happened to the last one. It was like the fourth one had just disappeared.

Hamato Yoshi was walking down the streets. A giant jar was in his hands with four little turtle pets in it. He smiled at them. The loss of his beloved Tang Shen and Miwa still in his mind. Suddenly a strange man bumped into him. He glanced over to the man. Something wasn't right… he was acting very weird. Yoshi decided to follow him and without him noticing he walked into the alley.

The man he bumped into was receiving some kind of strange canister of ooze with another one who looked exactly like him. Yoshi frowned slightly and wondered what the ooze was.

He did another silent step, trying to get closer to the conversation when he suddenly stepped onto a rat. The rat shrieked as hard as he could and therefore gave away Yoshi's location. The 2 strange man turned towards him.

"Don't no further, this place is a place where you are not allowed to be in this place. We have been seeing you in this place so this is not the place that will be left by you" 4 men were slowly encircling him. And before he even knew a fight had broken out. He punched the strange guys and hit the one with the canister.

It came flying and it shattered on the ground. Yoshi screamed when he came in contact with the ooze. It burned and he dropped the jar holding the turtles. The turtles began to grow in size, a few blood spatters mixed with the green ooze.

Fascinated by his new form Splinter charged in on the remaining 2. He was faster, stronger and all of his senses were improved. He punched one in the face before tumbling over his own tail and he fell to the ground, face down.

He scrawled to his feet and looked over to the sound of crying. The four turtles he had bought were now humanoid turtles and were crying, the only thing was, there were only 3. He was punched hard across the face and he landed next to the 3 turtles.

"Don't be afraid" Splinter hurriedly whispered and scooped the crying turtles up and ran.

And from that day he had always wondered where the fourth one was. He had never told his sons. They would be devastated by the news they could probably have another brother. One that would fill the empty feeling in their hearts. He just couldn't bear to tell them. He had lost a child once, twice. He didn't want them to go through the same.

He sighed slightly and stood up from his mediation sit and walked over to the picture of his old family. His daughter Miwa and his beloved Tang Shen. And of course Hamato Yoshi, when he was still human. Next to the picture was a piece of glass. As a reminder of his fallen son, Michelangelo.

He had named his sons after his favorite renaissance painters. Leonardo for the oldest, Raphael for the second oldest and Donatello for the youngest. And without his sons knowing he had named their fallen brother too. Michelangelo. Which meant What is of god. He closed his eyes. He knew his son was in a better place now.

TMNT

"I thought we were friends" A young turtle whispered and began to cough slightly. His hands and legs were bound together above his little shell.

"You actually believed someone like me could be friend with a freak like you?" Bradford, his presumed friend, laughed and turned towards Xever.

"I say we get rid of him" Xever smirked and walked over to the sword on the wall. The little turtle gulped in fear and a single tear escaped his eye. How could he ever be so stupid to fall for this? Humans never accepted him, for one exception.

"Nothing would make me happier, but we need him. All part of the plan" Bradford smirked and showed the letter to Xever.

TMNT

"Guys!" April screamed and ran into the lair. Leo and Donnie both looked up at the terrified voice of their only human friend. April was holding a letter and was panting heavily. "Where is Raphael?!" She practically screamed. Whatever was in that letter had to be bad.

"Right here. What's wrong?" Raph shrugged and sat down next to his brothers on the cough. April's eyes widened in disbelieve when he saw her three friends sitting on the couch, completely unharmed.

"April what is wrong?" Donnie asked trailed his eyes towards the letter in her hand. "What is in the letter?"

With shaky hands April handed Donnie the paper. Donnie frowned and grabbed the letter gently before opening it. His frown grew more intense the more he read it.

"What is in it Don?" Leo insisted and scrawled closer to his youngest brother. With the same shaky fingers Donnie gave Leo the letter. Leo frowned too and trailed his eyes towards the letter.

Hello turtles,

I got one of you brothers, if you want to see him alive, meet me at my dojo tonight

Bradford

"We're all here" Raph suggested and sighed in annoyance. Why would Bradford lie about this? He couldn't be so stupid to think they would rush in right? They weren't stupid. They were all here so why would he even try? "We ain't that stupid"

"Guys, there is more" April obligated and gave the three brothers a picture that was included with the letter. All three of them gasped. There, bound on the ground, partly hidden in the shadows was a small turtle. They all looked at each other, could there be another one?


	2. Chapter 2

They all looked at the letter and the picture over and over again but nothing changed. The letters stayed the same. And the figure on the picture too. It wasn't as clear because it was partly in the shadows but you could clearly make out a shell, which made it a turtle. Thick ropes were wrapped around his arms and ankles, keeping him in place.

"Leo, what are we going to do?" Donnie whispered as he stared at the picture. If it was really a turtle he wanted to help him, or her. Nobody deserved to be in the hands of Bradford, or the Shredder. Everyone, including April, turned their heads towards Leo, waiting for him to give an order.

They all knew it could really be a trick, and maybe the turtle wasn't even there at all and it was just a dirty trick to get to them but at least Donnie was willingly to try.

"Let's go" he simply said and grabbed his katana's. A small smile made his way across Donnie's face. He was glad Leo agreed to save the little turtle. For a moment he thought Leo would disagree with it. Walking into the enemy's dojo wasn't the best thing to do after all, and certainly not as a mutant ninja turtle.

It wasn't a long trip towards the dojo of Bradford. They had investigated it before, after they discovered he actually worked for the Shredder. Who actually came towards New York because of their fault. Donnie came towards the glass window the last, blowing some chewing gum.

He attached the gum to the pencil side of his pair of compasses and placed it on top of the window. Slowly he placed the sharp part on the glass carefully cut the piece of glass away. He pushed the glass and carefully unlocked the window from the inside out.

All three turtle carefully entered the dojo and they stayed hidden in the shadows. Down on the ground were 3 foot soldiers, guarding an actual mutant turtle. A male one, but he was small. Leo signed for them to go down and so they did. One by one they each jumped on top of one foot soldier, knocking them out. Donnie jolted up the first and ran towards the small turtle.

It had fallen to the side and had it eyes closed. But the steady breathing of him gave away he was alive. Leo followed soon after and began to cut the ropes around his hands and legs. They fell limp next to his side and he didn't move.

"What do we do Leo?" Donnie whispered, cautiously for more enemies and cradled the small turtle in his arms. It was smaller than him. Which wasn't a surprise since he was the longest of the three but he was even shorter than Leo and Raph. Not very much but still shorter.

"Let's take him to the lair" Leo ordered and jumped towards the window again, a small smile appearing on his face. He seemed so small and those freckles were really cute. Raph took the small turtle from Donnie because he was stronger and they both followed Leo outside the building. Once they were on the rooftop they stayed in the shadows and went into a manhole cover.

Once they were all in the sewers they took a moment to place the little turtle on the ground and Donnie began to examine him. As predicted a small tracker was placed on the inside of his shell. With a small grin Donnie showed the tracker to his brothers and threw it in the corner. Donnie scanned for any more trackers or something that would lead the enemy to their secret lair but found none.

Raph hovered the small turtle up again and they went back to the lair.

"Leo can you inform Master Splinter?" Donnie asked when they entered the lair and signed to the little turtle. Leo just nodded and went towards the dojo. Donnie signed for Raph to follow him into the infirmary. He seemed fine but the fact he was unconscious worried him.

"What's wron' with him Don?" Raph asked when he lowered the small turtle on the bed.

"I don't know Raph, I'm trying to figure that out" Donnie said, slightly irritated and came over to the little turtle. He carefully grabbed his wrist and felt for a pulse. After a few seconds he felt one. It was a slightly weaker but steady beat. He frowned slightly when his eyes trailed over his body. He was skinny, very skinny and his skin was slightly pale.

He quickly ran some more tests to see if his speculations were right. Somehow he was relieved with the results he got but on the other side he wasn't.

"So what's wrong' with him?" Raph pushed again.

"He has a bad cold which could easily turn into Pneumonia but if we give him the right medicines he'll be fine." Donnie frowned slightly. "But his skin is very pale and he looks sick, he is underfed and lacks a lot of certain vitamins and nutrients"

"But ya can cure him right?" Raph pleaded. Somehow he didn't want the little turtle to die. And even though he didn't understand half of everything Donnie had said it sounded serious.

"There is no curing, he just has to eat varied and a lot of fruits. Combined with some antibiotics he should be fine in no time" Donnie explained and carefully tugged the small turtle in. Unintentionally planting a kiss on his forehead, like his brothers and sensei would always do.

"How is he?" The small voice of Leo came from the door. Donnie whipped his head around to see Leo standing there. Nervously twitching with his hand. Donnie smiled slightly and patted the little turtle one more time.

"He'll be fine with some proper care." Donnie explained and watched over to his older brother.

"Good, Sensei wants to talk to us, he says it's important" Leo shrugged and with that he left the infirmary. Donnie and Raph quickly exchanged some glances before leaving the small turtle and following Leo towards the dojo. When they entered the room Splinter was already in front of the tree, eyes closed. Leo was as usual facing Splinter.

Both Raph and Donnie sat down next to Leo and waited patiently for Splinter to say something.

"I'm afraid I have to tell you something" Splinter said after a while and began to frown. All the three turtles exchanged some glances before turning towards their father again. "You know how we all got mutated right?"

"Yes, you bought us three and we fell in some kind of weird ooze" Donnie added with a frown. Splinter's face fell and he stood up. His hands trailed along the photo of him, Miwa and Tang Shen before picking up the glass shard.

"I never told you this but when I bought you there were 4 turtles." Splinter said and turned around to face his three sons. "I got into a fight and the canister splashed open, that's how we got mutated. When I came to you, the fourth one was gone. And even today I don't know what has happened to him" Splinter sighed.

"So…. That turtle could be our brother?" Leo frowned. "Why is he so small then?"

"I fear that is something only he can answer my sons" Splinter said and placed the glass shard next to the picture again. Then he turned towards Donnie. "Donatello, you brother has informed me about the condition of the little turtle, do you think I can see him?" He added, with slight hesitation.

Donnie nodded vaguely. Still surprised by the news about a possible other brother. "You can Sensei." He said before his thoughts wondered off again. Splinter nodded too and left his 3 sons. The walk towards the infirmary seemed to go slower than ever and the distance was longer every step he made. There was a heavy feeling in his stomach. Could it really be his lost son?

When he came into the infirmary he intentionally avoided the small turtle and sat down on the chair next to the bed. He dropped his head and grabbed the edge of the bed. After a few seconds he dared to look up. The small form of the turtle, carefully tugged in under the blanket. The cute freckles under his eyes.

Splinter gasped. It was the same. "Michelangelo, my son"


	3. Chapter 3

The small turtle groaned slightly, slightly cracking his eyes open. He felt warm. He wasn't on the same cold pavement anymore. He had something soft laying on top of him. It felt comfortable. He groaned again and blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision.

"Aw shell" He muttered and rubbed his head, trying to ease the dull headache. He frowned slightly. There were so little noises around him. Soft beeping noises and some voices in the distant.

"He's waking up" A soft voice spoke. Ugh what happened? And why does my stomach hurt. "Give him some space guys" It was the same voice, this time more urgent. Slowly the small turtle opened his eyes fully. He frowned slightly, in front of him were 3 turtles, just like him.

The three brothers all exchanged some glances. His eyes were the brightest color of blue they'd ever seen. Even brighter than Leo's eyes. And he seemed so small and…. And so innocent. The small turtle groaned again and dropped his arms next to his side again.

"Ugh I'm seeing double" He groaned. "Triple I mean" He corrected himself and closed his eyes. Shielding his eyes from the bright light in the room. Wait. Slowly he opened his eyes again. The three turtles in front of him were still carefully watching him. How can I see myself double… triple I mean.

"Yer not seeing triple bonehead" Another turtle, with some kind of red cloth around his eyes, laughed with a heavy Brooklyn accent.

"And here I thought I was one of a kind" The small turtle pouted. "What happened though?"

They all began to chuckle slightly and the little turtle frowned. Did I say something funny? His limps were suddenly very heavy. He had never been surrounded by so many people. And certainly not someone like him. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"We saved you from Chris Bradford. You know he can't be trusted right?" The blue one said and kneeled down next to him. Getting on the same level as him. Instead of practically hovering over him. A flash of worry was seen in his eyes and he carefully reached out. The little turtle tensed slightly when he touched his shoulder but relaxed afterwards.

It actually felt nice. And his touch was gentle and caring.

"I know now" He whispered but immediately perked up. "I had to learn it somehow right?" He grinned and rubbed his head sheepishly. The purple and the red one exchanged some glances. How could someone be down one second, and be happy the other on?

"So who are you guys anyways? And how have I never seen you before" He frowned. Glancing to all the turtles. This time is was the purple turtle who walked forwards. Just like the blue one he had a calm aura around him. But there was something with him that made him relax even more.

"Well I'm Donatello, and that is Leonardo. And the red one is Raphael." Donnie explained.

"Aw man, why so complicated?" The little one pouted and grinned again. "but seriously dude, how come I have never seen you before?"

"Our father wouldn't allow us out in the last 15 years. So we have only been topside a few times" Leonardo explained. Seriously why are these names so complicated?

"Wow, you have a father?" The turtle exclaimed exited. Leo wanted to answer before he was interrupted by a loud growling sound. With a huge grin Mikey looked down at his belly, which was still under the covers. "Uhm… oops?" He chuckled.

"Shell, when was the last time you ate something?" Raphael exclaimed and raised his arms. The little turtle frowned slightly.

"Like a real meal or some small snacks?" He whispered as he shyly looked up. His bright blue eyes glancing from Leo and Donnie towards Raph.

"A real meal?" Donnie inquired, slightly confused why he was asking this. The turtle shifted slightly nervously on his bed and frowned slightly again. He glanced slightly down before finally looking back up. Meeting the green eyes of Raph.

"I can't remember the last time I ate a real meal" he whispered. The green eyes widened at the comment.

"Alrigh' that's it. Yer coming with ma" Raph exclaimed with worry in his voice. The turtle stared confused at Raphael when he picked up his arm and helped him from the bed. His legs were shaking slightly but he was used to it right now. He was still sweating slightly but it wasn't as much as always. Probably because it was a lot warmer under the blankets than on the cold street.

"Raph, you can't do that. He's still weak" Leo protested but Raph waved it off. The little turtle actually had to chuckle because of the comment.

"Relax I'm fine. Look" He exclaimed and ran a few steps around the infirmary but immediately fell. Luckily Raph was close to catch him.

"Easy Knucklehead. Let's get ya some food first." Raph offered and led him outside the infirmary. Mikey's eyes practically fell out of his head when he saw where he was. He was actually in the sewers! The space was huge and there was even some comfortable couch in the middle of the room. And a TV!

"Wow" He muttered in amazement as he was led through the gigantic room. Into another room! This one was slightly smaller but still huge. The scent of food immediately entered his nose and he eagerly began to look around.

"Guys, I just got a text from April a while. She should be here any minute" Leo said holding his t-phone up. Donnie's face darkened slightly but immediately covered it. Only the little turtle had seen it.

"No fair, why does she text you and not me?" He pouted. "… I mean, that's great." He immediately added. The little turtle chuckled slightly and sat down on the chair. Watching the three turtles around him with much care.

"Hold on, who's April? How many mutants are there?" He exclaimed and glanced over to Leo. He chuckled slightly.

"April's not a mutant. She's a girl, from our age." Leo explained and watched the turtle's reaction. He chuckled when he saw his eyes widen again. "You're catching flies" Leo smirked when the mouth of the young turtle kept open. Immediately his mouth closed and he grinned shyly.

"Guys, where are you?" A female voice entered the lair. Seconds later a red-haired girl entered the room. She glanced from the three older turtles towards the smaller one on the chair. "Oh my… he's so cute" She exclaimed and rushed over to the little turtle. His eyes widened in fear and he pressed his shell against the back of his chair.

April immediately came to a stop. "Oh…. I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to scare you little one" April rushed hurriedly. A flash of guilt washing over her.

"I-it's okay" The small turtle whispered. His voice slightly cracking. "You just.. surprised me. That's all" He explained. But eventually he began to tear up. Raph growled slightly and stepped in front of the little turtle, shielding him from April.

"Ya made him cry" Raph huffed disappointed. From behind him he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Tugging slightly.

"Raph it's okay" The little turtle inquired and got from his chair. He walked past Raph and hesitantly walked over to April. He waited a few seconds before wrapping his arms around the girl. April was surprised for a few seconds before she too wrapped her arms around him. She smiled slightly as she felt the little turtle nuzzling in her shoulder. Eventually the little turtle was the one to pull out of the hug. Showing his innocent smile.

"You just surprised me, that's all" He assured her and rubbed his head. Ignoring the heavy feeling in his stomach.

"I know, and I'm sorry. What is his name by the way?" April asked, glancing over to her 3 mutant friends. The last question also caught the little turtle's attention as he curiously looked up.

"Well, Splinter named us after renaissance painters, so he was thinking about Michelangelo" Leo offered and watched the turtle's reaction carefully. His face went into a frown. "But of course it's his choice" Leo added quickly, not getting the reaction he'd expected.

"I love it" Michelangelo chirped happily. "But it's still complicated" He pouted but grinned afterwards.

"Guess I'm not the youngest anymore" Donnie grinned as he watched his new younger brother being excited about his new name. Michelangelo grinned wildly and took them all into a hug. They were all taken back by the hug. None of them was really a hugger. But with Michelangelo it was different. He nuzzled his face deeply inside the hug. Smiling because he finally had a family.

TMNT

April chuckled slightly when she saw the young Michelangelo happily eating a piece of his banana. Raph was carefully cutting tiny pieces for him like he was a baby but Michelangelo didn't seem to mind as he gratefully excepted every piece of food.

Because he had such a lack of vitamins, and food in general, they had to be careful with what to feed him and how much. They couldn't just feed him all at once but they had to build it up slowly. Otherwise his body could reject it.

They still had no clue what had happened to their new brother in the last 15 years but they felt it would be better to wait with that.

"So when are you going to ask him, about what happened?" April curiously asked and glanced over to Leo and Donnie. Both of them were too watching the scene in front of them. They didn't know why or how but somehow he managed to let Raph show a side of him they'd never seen before. Leo looked towards April upon the question.

He gently grabbed April's arm and led her towards the kitchen, away from Raph and Mikey. Who were now making a fruit salad for April, Donnie and Leo. An idea of Michelangelo. Donnie followed Leo and April soon.

"Why did we have to go here?" April asked curiously, looking around the kitchen.

"I didn't want Michelangelo to hear it" Leo explained. April gave him a confused look.

"Why not? What is so important?" She asked slightly worried. "Is he sick or something? He's not dying or anything right?"

Leo chuckled slightly but shook his head. "He's not sick April. He will be fine, don't worry" Leo assured her. "We just don't know how to tell him"

"Tell what, Leo what is going on?" She nervously glanced from Leo towards Donnie.

"When Splinter was still human he bought us right? And we got mutated and he took us in" Donnie explained. Glancing over to Leo. "Well, Splinter had bought 4 turtles, 4 were mutated but he only took 3 and he had left Michelangelo behind" He explained. April gasped at the explanation. He really was their brother, and Splinter had, not on purpose of course, left him.

"He….h-he left me?" A distressed voice came from behind. In the door stood Michelangelo. A bowl of cut fruit in it. Ready to be given to his 'new family'. His eyes were beginning to water. The bowl shattered on the ground and he ran.


	4. Chapter 4

He ran as fast as he could. His breathing came out in wheezing sounds and pain shot up his sides. The little amount of food he had in his stomach was threatening to come up again and he quickly slammed his hand on top of his mouth. He grunted and dropped on his knees, desperately clutching his stomach.

His head was growing dizzy and his stomach was making turns. He whimpered slightly and shut his eyes, trying to ease his stomach. He groaned and rubbed his stomach uneasily. He felt so weird. He wasn't quite hungry anymore, not like he had always been, but at the same time his belly was still hurting.

"Mikey?" A low voice came from behind him. Mikey sniffled slightly and looked around in confusion. "Michelangelo!" The same voice said as he noticed the small turtle in the sewers. Mikey wiped away his tears and watched as the red banded turtle ran towards him. Putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Mikey?" The small turtle whispered and watched his new brother. New tears streamed down his cheeks but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

"Y'know, short fer Michelangelo" Raph explained and offered Mikey a hand to stand up, but he refused. Raph sighed as Mikey sat down with his shell against the wall and sat next to him. "Listen Mikey, father didn't leave ya, I know that." Raph started and looked into Mikey's baby blue eyes. Even now it surprised him how blue they were.

"How do you know" Mikey huffed and wiped away his tears. Raph sighed and pulled Mikey closer to him. The small turtle whimpered but didn't pull away.

"Because I know him. And he would never leave ya" Raph explained and stared down on his little brother. "Listen Mikey, I don't know what happened but I do know father never meant ta leave ya. He stayed with ya all night before ya woke up. He loves you" Raph continued and stroke Mikey's arm slightly, still unsure what to do.

It was very weird. For 15 years they have been with 4. He, 2 brothers and his father. And right now another turtle has joined them, another brother. Just like that. He even was their lost brother, they had never known.

"R-Really?" Mikey whispered and looked up to his new older brother. Raph smiled down at him.

"Really" He assured his little brother and stood up. "So ya coming?" He grinned and offered Mikey a hand. He seemed to doubt for a few seconds but then grabbed Raph's hand. Raph helped Mikey up but the young turtle immediately began to sway on his feet so Raph threw his arm over his shoulder and supported him while walking.

"Ya were really stupid, running off like that" Raph grinned as he steadied his grip on his little brother a bit. Mikey just huffed and continued to lean on Raph while they made their way to the lair again. "Leo, Don!" Raph called out when they got to the lair. Immediately Leo, Donnie and April came running towards Mikey.

"Mikey I'm so sorry!" Donnie called out and took Mikey into a big hug. Mikey's eyes widened when he felt Donnie's strong arms around him and willingly leaned into the hug. "Don't run off like that again" He whispered in Mikey's ears and pulled out.

"I won't" Mikey whispered and gave a shallow smile before Leo stepped forwards and led Mikey to the couch.

"You know father loves you? Even if you didn't grow up with us" Leo started as he folded a blanket around Mikey's body. His face fell when Leo said that sentence and gritted his teeth slightly. "Sorry" Leo mumbled when he saw Mikey's reaction and sat down next to him. Soon Raph and Donnie joined them too.

"Here take these" Donnie said as he handed Mikey a glass and some pills. Mikey frowned as he took them.

"What are these?" He whispered and looked at the weird pills and then back to Donnie. Donnie smiled slightly upon the question.

"They are antibiotics" He explained and placed a hand on Mikey's forehead before withdrawing it. "You still have a light fever, these will help you. Just swallow them with the water" He continued. Knowing that Mikey had probably never had medicines before, or even this luxury.

"I did feel a little bit bad" Mikey admitted and hesitantly took the pills before swallowing it with the water. After he was done he gave Donnie the glass back and shifted slightly on the couch. "So what happened to you guys… I mean 15 years back and all." Mikey muttered uneasily and looked to his new brothers.

"April is getting Splinter, then we can talk" Donnie said as Raph sat down next to Mikey. The young turtle gulped slightly when two of his brothers sat next to him and awkwardly rubbed his legs. He was never close to any of his brothers at once, or people at all.

Just as Donnie said April came in a few moments later, followed by a giant rat. Mikey looked up to the rat and quickly figured that was supposed to be his father. "Michelangelo?" He rat asked. His voice was very calm but still loving and caring. And he could immediately tell why they were all so sure about Splinter loving him. But still he didn't feel comfortable.

"H-Hey" Mikey stuttered and looked down on the ground again. Raph and Leo were on both sides of him and they were almost touching him. It was suffocating. He had never been so close to any human before and he had never talked to anyone like this. Sure he had some short conversations but these mostly ended in the other screaming or calling for help.

Donnie frowned and whispered something to Splinter, who just nodded and sat down on the other couch, much to Mikey's liking. It wasn't like he didn't trust him, he just didn't trust anyone in general. He had been alone all these years and right now he was suddenly surrounded by so many humans/mutants. And on top of that, they were his family. Whom he had never heard about.

"You probably wonder what happened to us, how we are as we are today" Splinter started. Mikey looked up uneasily but then nodded. "It all started 15 years ago. I had just moved to New York after the loss of my beloved Tang Shen and my daughter Miwa, when I bought you four" He started.

Mikey frowned slightly and opened his mouth. "I am sorry for your loss" He whispered and shifted slightly on the couch, accidently brushing along Leo's arm. He flinched slightly and Leo took the hint and shifted a little bit from Mikey away. He could feel Leo looking at him but he ignored it and focused on his 'father' again.

"The day I bought you I ran into a man, he acted odd so I decided to follow him. I walked into an alley and saw the same man, only there were more of them, all completely alike. And they carried some sort of canister with a strange ooze around. Ironically a rat gave away my location and a fight erupted. The canister splashed open and upon contacted it changed us to what we are today." Splinter explained.

Mikey was listening eagerly. "So why did you leave me behind?" He whispered and shivered slightly when his father's face fell into a frown.

"I did not my son. When I came to retrieve you and your brothers, you were gone. I never forgot you my son. Even after all these years. I always wondered what has happened to you" Splinter explained to the freckled turtle but he shook his head. A few tears appeared in the corners of his eyes.

"Y-you don't have to lie" Mikey whispered as his lip began to quiver. It couldn't be true. He was just a baby turtle back then. He had left him behind, there was no other explanation.

"My son, I am telling the truth" Splinter said and looked the freckled turtle in the eyes. The baby blue eyes were wide with fear and a few tears escaped them. Suddenly he jumped up and began to run again. This time Raph was prepared and immediately began to sprint after him. Mikey still wasn't healed so he wasn't as fast as he normally was and Raph caught him even before he was out of reach.

Raph wanted to say something to him, tell he shouldn't run off the whole time but when Mikey desperately pressed his face against his plastron and began to cry, he decided not to. Raph bit his lip and looked over to his family, while Mikey was staining his plastron with tears.

"Perhaps it would be best to let him rest so we can presume later" Splinter suggested and Raph nodded. Carefully untangling Mikey's grip on his arms.

"Hey kid, let's get ya to yer room" Raph offered as he saw how tired Mikey actually was. Which wasn't anything to be surprised off. He was still a little bit sick, not to mention he had lived 15 years outside, and his immune system probably was badly damaged because of that. Which meant he had to get some good rest.

"N-No, can't sleep. Gotto find food" Mikey mumbled as he tried to break out of Raph's grip. The red banded turtle's face flushed with guilt.

"Listen Mikey, you don't have to worry about food okay? We have enough and you can have whenever you want." Raph said to Mikey, who softly nodded. All these years he had to search his own food and right now he could just get it without having to do something for it. It couldn't be real. It was too good to be true, but if Raph said it was true. He didn't know why but he felt strangely comfortable around him. Unlike he had with the rest.

"yea" Mikey eventually agreed and allowed Raph to take him to wherever he wanted to take him. Raph quickly looked back and gave a quick nod to his family before leading Mikey to his room. They always had a spare room they had never used so when they had brought Mikey home they had started to clean the room slightly and make the bed for him so he would be comfortable.

Raph pushed open the door and led Mikey inside. The room wasn't finished yet, it was far from it. There was only a bed on the right side of the room but Mikey seemed pretty impressed by the sight.

"Is this your room?" Mikey gasped and wiped away his old tears. Raph smirked and set Mikey down on the bed.

"No it's yours" He only said and lifted the blanket for Mikey. The freckled turtle willingly slipped under it and allowed Raph to tug him in. He wiggled slightly under the blankets, trying to get used to the feeling of an actual bed. "Enjoying?" Raph teased him.

Mikey's eyes locked into Raph eyes and he nodded eagerly. "It's so soft" He squeaked and wiggled somewhat more. He already felt himself dozing off in the comfortable bed and only then he realized how tired he actually was.

"Goodnight little brother" Raph smirked and patted Mikey's head slightly before standing up.

"It isn't even night yet" Mikey giggled but folded the blanket tightly around his body. Happily welcoming the warmth instead of the cold and hard pavement he usually slept on. Raph shook his head and walked out of the door. Leaving his new brother alone in the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Mikey groaned slightly as he opened his sleepy eyes. He rolled onto his plastron and buried his head into the pillow beneath him. He chuckled slightly and rolled over again, enjoying the soft feeling of the bed. He turned once again and folded the blanket tighter around him, trying to get back to sleep again. He wasn't even tired but it felt so nice.

He repositioned himself once more until his shell met the edge of the bed. He shrieked and tumbled over the edge, falling on the ground. "Auw" He winced and rubbed his shell slightly, pouting towards the bed. "I liked you" Mikey chuckled and stood up, placing the blanket on the bed.

He sighed and looked towards his door, he was out of bed anyways. He sighed and walked outside the room, entering the living room he ran away from just a few hours ago. He frowned when he noticed nobody was in the living room.

"Hello?" He hesitantly called out and looked around, trying to find anyone. Fear struck him, they didn't leave him right? They wouldn't abandon him after all. Even the thought made him tear up slightly, he didn't want to be alone, not again. He just got a bit used to having 3 brothers, and apparently a father around.

He sniffled slightly when he heard a muffled sound coming from another room. He looked around slightly but then made his way over to the room. Carefully he peeked around the corner when he saw a large room, with a tree in the middle of the room. And his oldest 'brother' was doing some exercises or something in the room.

"Where is the rest?" Mikey asked with a low voice and stepped inside the room, nervously glancing over to the blue banded turtle. Leo finished his jump and wiped his forehead before turning to Mikey.

"Hey Mikey" He greeted and began to stretch his legs slightly. "They're still sleeping, why?" He frowned and started doing some punches and kicks into the air.

"Sleeping? Why would they sleep?" Mikey asked confused and took another step towards Leo, being careful to keep enough distance between them, he didn't want to be hit by one of those punches. Leo stopped moving and looked at Mikey before laughing.

"It's 7 in the morning?" He laughed and rubbed Mikey's head while laughing.

"Wait I slept half a day?" Mikey gasped and looked into the living room again. That would definitely explain why no one was up yet, expect for Leo. "So what are you doing up?!" He continued and pointed towards the dojo and the weapons that were shown.

"It's called training. You know, since we're ninja's" Leo explained and gestured to the weapons again. Mikey frowned, it did make sense after all. At least it would explain their bandana's, weapons and gear.

"But why?" Mikey frowned and Leo just chuckled again.

"Another time Mikey" Leo grinned and walked past Mikey. The freckled turtle pouted and turned around, running after Leo.

"But I wanna know now" He whined and grabbed Leo's arm. Leo stopped and turned around and sighed.

"Listen Mikey, you can sit through training in an hour okay? But you can't participate yet" Leo said sternly and placed a quick hand on Mikey's head. It was still a bit warmer than usual but it was almost to normal temperature. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast" Leo grinned and gestured Mikey to follow him.

Mikey grinned at the thought of food. His stomach was still slightly protesting but it was way less than it has always been. Nobody said anything when they entered the kitchen and Leo grabbed some ingredients. Mikey happily said down and watched as Leo began to cook. In a few minutes Leo placed two bowls with some kind of liquid food on the table.

Mikey looked down and grinned evilly up to Leo, taking his spoon. "You're not a very good cook are you?" He teased and quickly began to eat the food. It wasn't as tasty as the fruits Raph fed him last day but he wasn't complaining, it was still better than anything he had eaten before.

"I know, we're not really good at cooking" Leo said and blushed slightly, awkwardly rubbing his head. "So you're ok now? You know, with all that happened yesterday?" Leo suddenly brought up and sat down too, starting to eat his breakfast too. Mikey's face fell slightly and he shrugged.

"I don't know Leo, it's still pretty weird. I mean I'm not used to you all. Not like I don't like you, but I've never been around so many people. I have been alone all these years, I just… I don't know it's just weird" Mikey explained and took another bite, ignoring his protesting stomach. He was already full but at the same time he wasn't.

"Hey it's okay" Leo soothed and reached out for Mikey's hand when he noticed the tears in his baby blue eyes. "You're not alone anymore, brothers remember?" Leo assured him and Mikey looked up. He grinned and wiped away the few tears.

"Promise you will never leave me?" He whispered and shifted slightly.

"No" Leo simply said and then snickered. "Unless you want to see me shower?" He grinned and stood up, helping Mikey up.

"Heck no!" Mikey exclaimed but giggled afterwards. Leo smiled and took Mikey with him to the living room. Mikey smiled as he watched the room, noticing nobody was up yet. Leo placed Mikey on the couch and walked over to the television. Turning the television and the DVD player on.

"You can watch Space heroes if you want" Leo said and handed Mikey the remote. Mikey frowned and looked towards the screen. "It's a really great show, I bet you love it. I'll be right back" Leo winked and left Mikey in front of the TV.

TMNT

"Hey Mikey, what ya doing?" Raph yawned when he entered the living room the next morning. He had gone to Mikey's room just minutes ago only to find an empty bed, and when he walked into the living room he quickly found the freckled turtle, glued to the screen. His baby blue eyes wide with amazement.

"Raph Raph! Look at this! It's amazing!" Mikey jumped up and pulled the red banded turtle towards the TV, forcing him to watch Space heroes. Raph groaned and mentally face palmed. He couldn't believe Leo made him a space heroes fan within a day.

"Great, another space heroes fan" Raph groaned but couldn't contain a laugh as Mikey kept bouncing up and down in excitement. Having watched television for the first time in his life. He remembered his first time when his father came home with a semi-broken television so Donnie had to do something around the lair.

It took him 5 days and 4 hours to fix it and proudly presented it to the family, and of course the first show that was shown being Space heroes. He and Donnie both thought it wasn't a good show, but Leo kept saying it was 'the best show in the history'.

"Earth to Raphie" Mikey giggled and waved his hands in front of Raph. The red banded turtle blinked a few times before focusing on Mikey. "I asked you something" He giggled and waited for Raph to answer. Raph frowned in confusion, he hadn't heard Mikey asking anything.

"What'ya say?" Raph frowned and looked over to Mikey again. Even after being ignored he was still smiling and bouncing on his place.

"I asked why you don't like Space Heroes" He giggled and pushed down Raph again.

"It's a stupid show" Raph huffed, ignoring the happy grin of his new little brother. He was so different from Leo, Donnie and him. Apart from some moments he was always happy, he was eager to know about them, he was full of energy but even Raph could see through the smile. Something had scarred him.

Mikey would always be nervous when no one was around, and at the same time he would become nervous when someone was around, the only exception being Raph.

"How can you not like this! Look at these colors, and it's even moving. Look at it!" Mikey exclaimed and grabbed both sides of the television, starring intensely at it. Raph rolled his eyes but couldn't contain his grin when he watching Mikey glued to the television.

"You shouldn't watch up close genius" Raph smirked and grabbed the edge of Mikey's shell. So caught up with the sounds of Space Heroes beaming through the lair that he didn't notice the heavy shiver from his new little brother.

Raph grinned as he placed Mikey a few meters away from the television but Mikey didn't move and didn't speak again. Raph frowned when he noticed the heavy breathing of his little brother and kneeled down next to Mikey.

Mikey's eyes were wide with fear. His chest was rising and falling repeatedly but it seemed like he couldn't draw any of the oxygen. His baby blue eyes were unfocused and just stared into oblivion. Raph cursed as he recognized the symptoms, he was having a panic attack.

"DONNIE! LEO!" Raph called out and shifted so he was behind Mikey. "Come on buddy, easy. Breath with me" Raph tried and pressed Mikey's shell against his plastron. Mikey's eyes were still wide with fear and Raph stroke his forehead, trying to assure him.

"C'mon Mikey, easy. Yer safe." Raph tried. He had no idea what caused the panic attack. Or how something could give him such a reaction so easily but he had to focus on Mikey now. Mikey's eyes were still wide and his hand was on top of his chest.

He whimpered slightly and tried to repeat Raph's breaths. He could feel the pressure under his shell, Raph's plastron rising and falling and he tried to mimic his breathing. Slowly he could feel the pain in his chest leaving.

"That's it Mikey, easy" Another voice cut in but Mikey only focused on the breathing of Raph. Slowly he got his breathing under control again and he fell fully against his brother. He whimpered slightly and searched for Raph's hand. The red bended turtle understood the hint and reassuringly grabbed the small hand.

"D-Don't leave m-me" Mikey sobbed and buried his face in Raph's hold. Raph stopped a sob of himself and folded his arms around Mikey, drawing him close to his body.

"I won't Mikey. I will never leave you"


	6. Chapter 6

It took them a few minutes to calm Mikey down enough so they could move him to the couch. Their new little brother was now safely buried in Raph hug and leaning against his plastron, listening to his heartbeat. Donnie was on the floor, closely watching Mikey while Leo was making some tea for him.

Raph was carefully stroking the back of Mikey's head and glanced over to Donnie. Their eyes met for a few seconds before Raph turned away when Leo joined them, walking into the living room with a cup of tea.

"Here you go Mikey, careful though. It's still hot" Leo said as he handed Mikey some tea. Mikey carefully sat straight up and took the tea from Leo. He nervously glanced down to the unknown liquid and then slowly brought it to his mouth. Carefully he took a small sip and swallowed it. He sighed in satisfaction and took another sip.

"You don't have to, but do you want to talk about it?" Donnie whispered and rubbed Mikey's knees to comfort him. Mikey looked away slightly but then nodded hesitantly. He took another careful sip before he handed the cup to Donnie. He shifted slightly on his place but kept his gaze downwards.

"Well….." He started and bit his lip slightly as tears already started to form in his eyes. Raph pressed him closer to his body to assure him. "He never told me about what happened but I grew up in another family." Mikey started and glanced up to his new brothers.

"It wasn't anything special, this boy Cayden, kept me. As a secret. He had a father who didn't know about me and his mother just died. But I was happy, we lived together and he taught me how to speak and walk and that kind of stuff, but I just missed… you know having a father" He whispered and shifted slightly again. Nobody said something and just waited for him to continue.

"I had to hide whenever his father would come to his room and I had to be silent whenever he was home. And when he wasn't I played with Cayden. He was really nice and he was only 8 when he found me so he was not that old" Mikey bit his lip slightly when he thought back at all the times he had laughed with Cayden.

All the things Cayden had learned him and how much they played together. He was practically his brother, his father. He taught him everything he knew. Writing, reading, and even walking and all the basic stuff. He didn't judge by appearance, he accepted him for who he was.

"I lived like that for almost 11 years and I was happy and all but one day…." He stopped for a seconds to wipe away some tears. All three brothers had troubled looks on their faces, they already knew where this would lead to.

"Cayden's father discovered you didn't he?" Leo whispered and looked Mikey in the eyes. The baby blue eyes were filled with tears but he wasn't looking towards any of his brothers.

"We were playing as usual because his father was out and we didn't hear him coming back. We wrestled slightly and I was winning when his father came in" Mikey said sadly. "He thought I was attacking his son and grabbed me. Cayden tried to defend me but his father wouldn't listen. He practically dragged me out of the house and threw me on the streets" He shivered slightly when he remembered that faithful night.

How scared he had been when he first came outside. Cayden never allowed him to go out because people could see him but he already knew he didn't like it. It was cold, there were people around him, there were noises and people. Cayden had warned him several times that not all humans would be like him, not all of them would except him.

And he understood why, he was different than Cayden, than any of his friends who he talked about. He was different from the pictures on the internet, or in the stories.

"That's awful" Donnie whispered when silence spread among the room. Mikey slightly nodded and looked away from all three of them. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth again.

"He t-threatened me, if he would see me around his son ever again he'd kill me" Mikey sobbed slightly and wiped away some new tears. "So I ran away and hid in an alley, I d-didn't know what to do. I had never been outside, I w-was scared"

Raph's face was filled with guilt and at the same time anger. He was angry at the father of Cayden who hurt his little brother like that, who threatened him and forced him to a whole new world. He practically took away the only person Mikey knew, the person who raised him and was friends with.

"It's okay kid, yer safe" Raph whispered to him and drew him even closer to his body. Mikey's shoulders were shaking beneath his grip and he knew why, Mikey was crying. "Hush Mikey" Raph tried to soothe and wiped away the tears from Mikey's face. The small turtle gave him a faint smile before turning back to his story.

"It wasn't long afterwards I heard the voice of Cayden, calling for me. He had been looking for me even after all his father had said to him. He came to me with some stuff like warm blankets and some clothes so I could hide myself better. You know, I never liked clothes so I never wore them but it was cold" Mikey grinned slightly.

"He showed me some places I could sleep the best, since he was pretty familiar with the streets, he wouldn't tell me why though, So he helped me with arranging a sleeping place and taught me how to find food on the streets and all. But he came to visit me every day and brought food and drinks with him, and if necessary clothes and other things he could spare" Mikey explained and quickly glanced over to his brothers.

They were all quietly listening to the story. And it amazed them how much he had endured. He was forced to live on the streets at the age of 11, nobody he could go to, nobody he could trust but Cayden.

"He kept doing that for over a year but it went wrong when I was just 12 years old. I had lived on the streets for a year now but I still couldn't survive on my own, and that's what went wrong. Cayden made sure I stayed alive that whole year but one day we were discovered by a street gang." The small turtle told them.

"It was so scary, they all had guns and weapons and they were threatening me. That they would kill me or dissect me." More tears were streaming down Mikey's face and Raph quickly wiped them away but more were coming. "They grabbed me, they held me by my arms so I couldn't defend myself when they would beat me but Cayden defended me"

He swallowed deeply and shivered heavily.

Mikey screamed when he felt himself being grabbed around his shell and dragged towards the end of the alley. Cayden was kicked and thrown against the wall but he wasn't moving again. Mikey struggled as hard as he could but he was dragged further and further into the alley, until more street members joined him.

The thick and dirty hands were around both wrist and forcing his arms to the side. They were strong, so strong and they were with more so Mikey couldn't do anything. He whimpered and cowered in fear when 3 of the men came towards him.

"P-please" Mikey whimpered which only caused them to laugh hard. He could fear the pressure on his shoulders tightening and pushing him on his knees.

"So the freak can actually talk, I can help you with that" One of them said and grinned right before his face, showing all the gaps and rotten teeth in his mouth, and before Mikey could process what he had said a strong first landed on his cheek. A muffled sound escaped his throat and he winced at the throbbing pain it caused him.

"Let's see…" A smaller guy said before grinning. He reached to his belt and grabbed a rope from his belt, tying it around one of Mikey's wrist and pinning him to the steel pipe next to him. The other man followed his lead and tied Mikey's other wrist to another pipe. Against forcing both hands to the side and onto his knees.

Mikey's eyes were wide with fear as they approached him, all of them and he waited for the first punch, but it never came. He only heard a body falling to the ground and then silence. He whimpered slightly and opened his eyes. The small guy who tied him up was now on the ground, a big knife jabbed in his back and blood seeping through the back of his head.

Cayden was standing there with a wooden plank in his hands and was ready to attack more of them. Everything to defend his friend. And they did. They all came at once, trying to overpower Cayden, and they did.

"Cayden, no!" Mikey screamed when his friend was kicked in his stomach and forced to the ground. He struggled as hard as he could at the restraints tying him down but they were too strong. Tears were streaming down his face as he had to watch as they grabbed Cayden, just like they grabbed him.

They forced him on his knees and held both arms so he couldn't fight back or anything. "I will be okay, I promise" Cayden said and that was the last time Mikey heard his voice. The leader of the group came up to him and signed for another to silence him. A firm hand was placed on top of Cayden's mouth so he couldn't talk.

"We were going to let you go, but now you killed Thomas, and we will have to kill you" The leader spoke and slowly, very slowly pushed the knife into Cayden's chest. A muffled scream tore from Cayden's throat and he began to struggle as hard as he could, pain ripping through his body.

"Cayden!" Mikey screamed again when he watched in horror at the scene in front of him. Slowly the struggling of Cayden ceased until he fell completely limp. The people around him didn't even flinch at the brutal murder and the leader coldly slit Cayden's throat, to be sure he was really dead. Cayden's dead body fell to the ground.

"No…." Mikey whispered as he watched in horror as the dead body of his only friend began to bleed on the floor, dead. He felt numb, Cayden was dead. He was really dead. He had no one. The gang then turned to him but Mikey didn't care. The first punch landed in his plastron and he winced but his eyes kept on the dead body of Cayden.

His friend, his only friend and now he was gone, because he protected him. Another punch, another kick. Until Mikey's body was full with bruises and cuts. His eye was swollen and his wrists were bleeding due to the ropes around them. But Cayden was still dead, and he was utterly alone.

"Let me make this very clear, if we ever see you again, we will kill you, just like I killed your little friend" The leader spoke and quickly cut the ropes around his wrists. Mikey fell to the ground in exhaustion and his face hit the ground, hard. He whimpered and looked up to the people around him, and then to the dead body of Cayden.

"Leave him, he'll die anyways" The leader snorted and grabbed the dead body of 'Thomas' and walked out of the street. Leaving Mikey alone, with the dead body of Cayden. Mikey sobbed and curled himself up. His body throbbing from the beating but he felt numb. Cayden was dead, and he was all alone now.


	7. Chapter 7

The lair was silent again. Leo was quietly working through some basic kata's in the dojo while Master Splinter was meditating in front of the big tree again. After what happened with Mikey they had decided it would be best to cancel training for today.

Donnie was working in his lab as usual and Raph was laying on the couch. Mikey was curled up against him, his head resting on top of Raph's plastron. Despite all the medicines Donnie had given him, his fever had spiked up again.

Raph sighed and placed his hand on Mikey's forehead, it was still warm. The freckled turtle's cheeks were in a shade of red and sweat was trickling down his forehead. He would occasionally moan and twitch in his sleep.

Raph withdrew his hand from Mikey's forehead and placed it on his chest again. His newfound baby brother seemed so small, huddled up between the thick blanket they had given him to keep him warm enough, despite his fever. His baby blue eyes closed and freckles covering his small face.

His mouth was partly open and Raph chuckled at the sight. He was so different from the rest of them. None of them were really 'physical' as in hugs and brotherly love. But Mikey was so different. He loved the attention, he loved all the hugs and these brotherly moments.

He loved curling up against someone, just like now. He loved to talk and was way more 'emotional' as they were.

Raph's face shifted to his little brother when he started to move again. He started to mumble slightly and curled himself up even more against Raphael. The usual hot-tempered turtle smiled and drew Mikey closed to his body.

"R-Raph?" Mikey whispered disorientated and blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He wanted to open his mouth to say something more but it ended in a couching fit. Raph immediately shot up and helped Mikey to sit up straight, so he could breathe more easily.

"Easy Mikey" Raph tried to soothe and rubbed Mikey's shell slightly, waiting for the couching to be over. Mikey's throat was hoarse and raw, and definitely not healthy but eventually it passed. Mikey sighed slightly and leaned into Raph's hold, pressing his face against Raph's plastron again in exhaustion.

"I don't feel so good" Mikey whimpered and sniffled slightly, wiping his forehead. Raph chuckled slightly at Mikey's innocence and rubbed his forehead slightly.

"Ya have a fever" Raph said and grinned towards the freckled turtle. "But don't worry, Donnie is going to make ya better again" Raph assured him when he saw the distressed look on Mikey's face.

"Speaking of which, April is standing topside with some medicines I requested, so you better get it." Donnie interrupted the two brothers and grinned slightly. Raph untangled himself from Mikey but stayed put.

"Someone has ta watch this knucklehead" Raph said, gesturing to Mikey next to him. Donnie rolled his eyes slightly and walked over to Mikey.

"I will" Donnie grinned and winked towards the freckled turtle. Mikey giggled as Raph eventually stood up and walked out of the lair, clearly not happy but even Raph knew better than to argue with Donnie once he was in doctor mode. "Come on, you'll be more comfortable in a bed" Donnie offered and helped Mikey up.

The young turtle was swaying slightly on his feet so Donnie wrapped an arm around him and supported him as they walked. Mikey allowed Donnie to take him to his room and pressed his face into Donnie's hold.

Donnie flinched slightly, Mikey's skin was still hot and sweaty. But once Raph and April would come home with the proper medicines he would surely be okay.

"This isn't my room" Mikey whispered when they walked into Donnie's room. It was just like Mikey's room not very big but big enough for them. Donnie's bed was on the right side of the room with a desk, filled with papers and a small laptop, on the left side of the room. There were some drawers hanging on the wall, also filled with different paper work.

There was another drawer next to the door, filled with photos of his family, photos of the 3 brothers, and their father. But what made Mikey laugh was the small bear next to Donnie's pillow.

Donnie ignored the small giggle from Mikey and carefully placed him on the bed. Propping his pillow so he wasn't entirely lying down. Mikey instantly drew the blanket up to his face and curled up again. But kept watching Donnie as he moved around the room.

"So… why do you have him?" Mikey decided to break the ice after a while and held up the stuffed bear. Donnie turned around and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly

"…It's not mine" Donnie stuttered slightly. Mikey's grin grew wider as he watched how Donnie was struggling to find a good excuse. "Alright fine, I sleep with it sometimes when I have a nightmare" Donnie eventually gave up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Don't worry Donnie, I won't tell" Mikey assured him and sat up slightly, his blanket still around him. "Besides I have one too" Mikey added and shifted slightly on his bed, finally realizing he didn't have his bear anymore. You could call him childish but remembering that he had lost the only object he still had from his childhood made him sad.

"What happened to it?" Donnie whispered and turned towards Mikey, sitting cross-legged on his own bed. Mikey shrugged slightly and looked up to his older brother.

"I don't know. I left it in my home the day I went to see Bradford, the next moment I was here" Mikey responded and curled himself up in the blanket again. Donnie's face flushed slightly at Mikey's confession and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder, carefully pushing him down again.

"Listen, when you're better we will get your bear okay?" Donnie offered which made Mikey smile.

"Thanks Donnie" Mikey grinned and allowed Donnie to fully push him against the pillows. Donnie fully buried Mikey with the blankets before Mikey handed him the bear again, but Donnie refused it. He simply smiled and pushed it back in Mikey's grip.

"No way, you may have it for tonight" Donnie offered. Mikey grinned and curled himself up again. Hovering over the bear to 'protect it'. Soon he found himself dozing off, and he could only vaguely make out the cold cloth that was repeatedly placed on his forehead. He tried to stay awake but eventually found himself drifting into a deep sleep.

TMNT

Donnie sighed when he noticed Mikey was really asleep and stood up, walking out of his room. Raph was leaning against the wall, a huge smirk on his face. When he saw Donnie was finally emerging from his room his grin grew wider.

"Thought I'd let ya two alone" Raph shrugged and handed the Donnie the bag with medicines. Donnie was about to turn around to place the medicines in his room when Raph stopped him as he opened his mouth.

"Didn't know ya had a bear" He grinned and watched Donnie's reaction closely. Slowly Donnie's cheeks turned a shade of red, and then even redder, coming dangerously close to Raph's mask.

"Do not" Donnie stuttered and tried to come up with an excuse, why he had the bear in the first place, but Raph was obviously not believing anything Donnie would try. When Raph noticed how red Donnie's cheeks were getting he grinned even more.

"That's adorable" He chuckled and walked up to Donnie, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck with Bearbert Einstein, Einstein" Raph said and began to laugh at his own joke before walking away. Leaving Donnie totally embarrassed in the hall.

"At least I don't talk to my pet turtle" Donnie muttered and opened his door, placing the medicines on his desk. He looked towards his bed quickly, where Mikey was still peacefully sleeping on the bed. Donnie sighed and wiped some cold water over Mikey's face to cool him down. Mikey smiled happily and curled up slightly.

Donnie chuckled and rubbed Mikey's head slightly and turned towards his desk, unpacking the medicines Raph had brought him. He set them aside and grabbed some paper work he could do, constantly glancing over to the sleeping form of his little brother.


	8. Chapter 8

Mikey opened his eyes slightly and blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He groaned and rolled over to his shell. He could feel the bear pressing against his side. He smiled slightly and placed the bear on his plastron.

"I see you're finally awake" Donnie smirked when he saw Mikey's eyes were open. Mikey hummed in response and rolled over to his side, closely watching how Donnie walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed. Wiping a cold cloth against his forehead for a bit.

"Feeling better?" Donnie whispered and placed the cloth on the ground. Mikey seemed to think for a second before nodding.

"Yea, much better" Mikey grinned and tried to push himself up but his arms were still trembling slightly and eventually he collapsed on his bed again. Donnie chuckled and reached for Mikey's shell, carefully hovering him up and propping his pillow so he could lean against. Until he was sitting straight up.

"You must be hungry, you slept half a day" Donnie said and handed him some water. Happily Mikey took the water and drank some. Smiling when the cold water entered his throat, easing the raw feeling slightly.

"Wait, I slept the whole day, again?" Mikey exclaimed as he drank some more of the cold water. Humming in satisfaction as the raw feeling vanished even more. Donnie only nodded before walking to his desk, picking something up and walking towards Mikey again.

"It's almost 7 in the evening. Not exactly half a day, but still" Donnie grinned and sat down on the edge again. Pouring some strange liquid on a spoon. Mikey frowned when he saw the thick and dark liquid and held up his nose. Donnie grinned and brought the spoon closer to Mikey's mouth.

"What is it…?" Mikey grimaced and turned his face away, pouting like a small child. Donnie sighed but chuckled slightly.

"It will help with your fever, and your throat." Donnie offered and brought the spoon closer to his mouth, but still Mikey refused to open his mouth. "Just take the medicine, then you can have a proper dinner okay?" Donnie smirked and watched as Mikey hesitantly opened his mouth. Carefully Donnie forced the spoon into Mikey's mouth and emptied the content.

Mikey grimaced when the liquid slit down his throat and winced. It tasted awful, truly awful. Donnie smiled and pulled Mikey into a hug, rubbing his forehead slightly. "I'm glad we found you Mikey" Donnie sighed and placed his chin on top of Mikey's forehead.

"Me too" Mikey said and willingly placed his head against Donnie's plastron. "Donnie, will you stay with me forever? You won't leave me right?" Mikey whispered and looked up to Donnie.

"Never Mikey, we're family now remember?" Donnie offered and pressed Mikey against his plastron again. Mikey sighed and happily listened to the heartbeats of his older brother. They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying the silence until Donnie eventually pulled out of the hug.

"Come on, the rest is waiting for dinner. Sensei cooked" Donnie said and helped Mikey standing up. He was still slightly trembling but he managed. Mikey quickly snatched Donnie's blanket with him but left the bear on the bed. Donnie helped him adjusting the blanket and led him outside the room.

Mikey shuddered slightly when the familiar warmth greeted him. Even after these 2 days he still wasn't used to the warmth in the sewers. When they entered the kitchen Mikey saw that the rest of his 'family' was already around the table. Raph and Leo on one side of the table and Splinter at the end of the table.

"My son, how are you feeling?" The mutant rat asked in a kind voice and looked towards Mikey. It took the small turtle a few moments to understand he was talking to him and he flushed slightly, looking towards the ground as Donnie sat him down on the chair.

"Better I guess" Mikey shrugged and looked towards the plate in front of him. He still wasn't very comfortable around all of them, he liked them, he really did, but having them around all at once made him uncomfortable. Especially his 'father'. He didn't even know why but he didn't trust him.

Maybe it was because he didn't have a good experience with fathers in general. Cayden's father forced him onto the streets, left him to die, while Cayden was the only one to care for him.

"I knew you'd come around knucklehead" Raph cut in and gave him a big grin. Mikey chuckled slightly and watched as his family began to eat the food Sensei had prepared. Awkwardly he picked up the fork and tried to mimic Donnie's movements as he ate the food.

TMNT

"Donnie?" Mikey whispered as he looked up from the TV. Leo was practically sitting in front of the television watching Space Heroes and Mikey sat cross-legged on the couch, enjoying the show just as Leo. Donnie looked up from the newspaper.

"What's wrong?" Donnie asked and lowered his newspaper, watching the small turtle carefully. Mikey seemed a bit nervous and he twitched slightly.

"When are we going to get my bear?" He practically whispered and looked down ashamed, a faint blush covering his face. Donnie grinned at Mikey's comment.

"If you're feeling well enough we can go out tonight, right Leo?" Donnie offered and watched over to Leo. The blue banded turtle's eyes kept glued to the TV as he leaned somewhat closer. "Right Leo?" Donnie said once again, this time more persistent.

"Yes, after Space Heroes" He shushed Donnie and kept his eyes on the television. Donnie chuckled and looked towards Mikey, who couldn't contain a laugh either. But being a Space Heroes fan himself Mikey didn't say anything and kept watching it himself. Donnie sighed and stood up, walking towards the dojo.

"Hey Raph, we're going topside in 5 minutes" Donnie quickly said when he walked past the red-banded turtle. Raph merely shrugged in response so Donnie just walked ahead, finally entering the dojo. As expected Sensei was meditating.

"What is wrong my son?" Splinter said, still keeping himself in his meditative trance. Donnie drew a big breath and sat down in front of his father.

"I wanted to take Mikey topside with us tonight, so we can gather the stuff he still has" Donnie said and looked up to his father. Sensei slowly opened his eyes and looked towards his second youngest, stroking his beard slightly.

"You may" He stated. "However you must realize Michelangelo is not trained and cannot defend himself from any possible attacks, do you think you can protect your brother from any possible threats?" Splinter asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Positive, besides we haven't heard from the Kraang for a few days now, after the Spider Bytez incident" Donnie pointed out and stood up, bowing to his father before walking out of the dojo. Leaving his sensei alone to meditate. Splinter chuckled and shook his head.

TMNT

"Aw man, it feels great to be out again" Mikey grinned as he tangled his legs over the edge of the roof. Lying flat on his shell, watching the stars above him. Apparently Leo and Raph had to check the area first to see it was truly safe. Not that he minded, he loved staring at the stars like he was doing now.

He would do it for hours back when he was still alone. Everything was so different right now. He had 3 brothers, a father and another human friend to look after him. He had a warm home, and food whenever he wanted.

"Yea" Donnie sighed and fell back on his shell next to Mikey, also staring up to the stars. There was a short silence before Donnie opened his mouth. "How was it like? I mean living on the streets?" The purple banded turtle asked and bit his lip. He didn't know if Mikey was ready to answer yet, but he was just curious.

"It was pretty cool, I mean I could do everything I wanted to. And I was always outside" Mikey sighed, continuously staring at the stars above him. "But I just missed someone that was friends with me, like Cayden was. And a home and food of course" Mikey shrugged as he felt the first tears prickle beneath his eyes.

Donnie sat up slightly, looking over to the small turtle. "Do you still miss him?" Donnie whispered. Mikey nodded and turned towards Donnie, looking into his eyes for a moment.

"Everyday" He admitted and scrambled up too. "But he sacrificed himself for me, and I'm so grateful for that, but I think about him every day. And I know he is out there, watching me from above. And I know he is smiling right now" He explained and gestured to the stars above him.

"Why?" Donnie frowned.

"Because I'm happy. He loved me, don't get me wrong but he too wanted me to find my real family. Even though I didn't know what he meant back then" Mikey shrugged. "He would never tell me what happened and how I was like this so I went through his room when he wasn't home, and I found his diary." Mikey chuckled slightly and sat cross-legged on the roof.

"He wrote about me, how great I was and all, and how stupid I could be sometimes" Mikey grinned sheepishly. "But he also wrote how he wanted to give me a real life, a family like me. Just like he wanted his mother back." Mikey explained and watched how his older brother would react.

"Did you take the diaries with you?" Donnie asked and quickly scanned the area.

"No they were Cayden's." Mikey said simply and leaned back again. "If left everything the moment his dad kicked me out of the house. And he never brought his diary with him of course. Figuring he didn't know I was reading them" He grinned slightly.

"Well would you like to get them?" Donnie offered which caused Mikey to jump up. "I think you would want them right? And I'm sure there are pictures of you when you were younger you want back" Mikey seemed to think for a moment. There were indeed pictures he had left behind. Cayden had never showed them but he knew they were pictures.

"We can?" Mikey piped up slightly.

"Of course we can, we're ninja's remember?" Donnie grinned. "Besides, if we visit your old house we can see that awful man that kicked you out. Right?" The last statement seemed to shock Mikey slightly and he frowned slightly.

"Yea" Mikey breathed and looked up to Donnie. "But I don't want to hurt him. He was Cayden's father after all. And he just missed his wife, and now he also lost his son" Mikey said lowly. Donnie nodded and looked up just as Raph and Leo came towards them.

"Hey guys, is it 'safe'?" Donnie smirked and stood up. Leo rolled his eyes at Donnie's sarcasm and just nodded. "Well Mikey, it's your turn, lead the way" Donnie said and gave Mikey a wink.

"Follow me dudes" Mikey grinned and hopped on his feet, running away from them. The three brothers looked at each other for a second before running after their little brother, which seemed harder than they originally thought. Even though they had 15 years of ninja training they couldn't keep up with him.

He was just going faster and faster with every second and he didn't even show any sign of exhaustion whatsoever. While Raph, Leo and Donnie were panting the whole time, desperately trying to keep up with their new little brother.

Eventually Mikey stopped on the edge of a building and turned around, grinning. His chest rising and falling slightly more than usual but other than that he seemed fine. "I thought you were the ninja's here" Mikey grinned as he watched his panting brothers.

"Watch it knucklehead" Raph teased him but was too tired to make a real threat, not like he was planning to do so.

"Once your done you can see my beautiful home" Mikey grinned and jumped down the edge, landing swiftly into the back of an alley. Again the three brothers looked at each other and jumped down too.

"This is where you slept?" Leo said shocked as he looked over to the few blankets laid down into the corner of the alley, completely shielded from the street by a dumpster. Mikey's face flushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Not always, but most of the time" Mikey explained and began to open the dumpster. "Besides, the buildings around here are long abandoned so it isn't that dirty." He continued and pulled out a small bag filled with some small objects.

"Is that all?" Donnie frowned when he checked the dumpster just to be sure and looked over to Mikey, who simply nodded. Donnie sighed and grabbed the fire-escape. "Let's get on the roof, we'll be safer up there" He said and started to climb to the top. Mikey grinned and climbed after Donnie, Raph and Leo close behind him.

Once they reached the top Mikey sat down and placed the bag in front of him, zipping it open. The three brothers watched in amazement as Mikey began to pull out a few things, first of all the bear, a half empty water bottle, some pieces of fruit which were already half rotten, a small knife, some rope and a relatively long chain.

"Where do you need that for?" Leo frowned and pointed towards the large chain. Mikey looked towards the chain before looking up to Leo.

"To defend myself?" He asked and chuckled. "You didn't think I would walk around New York without any kind of weapon right? I found it in some kind of warehouse 2 years ago, I kept it ever since" Mikey shrugged as he began to put his belongings back into the bag.

"Alright we got one more place to go to" Donnie grinned and pulled an arm around Mikey, pressing him closer to himself and rubbing his forehead slightly. Mikey grinned and ducked beneath Donnie's arm. Starting to run again.

"We are going to visit Cayden's dad for a bit" Donnie quickly explained before they ran off again. This time Mikey ran a little bit slower so his brothers could keep up with him but he was still faster than all of them.

"Leo…." Raph started after a while, when they were approaching Cayden's father's house. "Does this place seem a little bit familiar to ya?" He asked with a snort. Leo looked around and then he noticed it too. They had been here a few days ago, and to say it didn't end well was an understatement.

"You don't think….?" Leo started but stopped when Mikey stopped too, in front of a door which was painfully familiar. Donnie, Leo and Raph all exchanged glances as Mikey turned around with a slight smile.

"Well here it is" He informed them and walked over to the edge but the brothers didn't follow, they were all shocked. They couldn't believe this was Cayden's father. They were still on the rooftop, in front of a door from a person they knew very well. A cranky and rude named Vic, better known as Spider Bytez after his mutation.

TMNT

The dark figure silently walked up to his Master, the Shredder. He quietly sat down next to Xever and pulled off his mask. Slowly Bradford looked up, staring into Shredder's eyes.

"Bradford, Xever has informed me the discovery you two did a few days ago" Shredder began and narrowed his eyes. Bradford quickly glared towards Xever before returning towards Shredder. "Is it true you found a new addition to the Hamato family?" He beamed and watched his top henchman closely.

"Yes Master Shredder. They didn't know the small reptile, My guess is that they separated by birth or something" Bradford crumbled as he remembered how easily he had let them escape. He had one of the turtles, he had thought he could follow them to the lair with a tracking device but they were smarter than he had thought.

"You don't guess Bradford" Shredder snorted and stood up, walking over to the human. "You have disappointed me Bradford, you had one of the turtles and you let him escape" Shredder growled and pointed out his blades, holding it on top of Bradford's neck.

Bradford could hear Xever snicker next to him but he ignored it and just bowed his head, waiting for his master to finish him. He had failed him. But it didn't came. Instead Shredder withdrew his blade and Bradford looked up in confusion.

"However you have done a great discovery. The young turtle is obviously not trained if he wasn't raised with Hamato Yoshi. So he will be vulnerable" Shredder said and turned around, sitting on his throne again. "Capture the small turtle, and bring him to me. We will force Hamato Yoshi from his hiding place. Xever will go with you" Shredder ordered and sent them away.

Soon he would get his revenge on Hamato Yoshi, and his hideous reptiles would pay, starting with the small one.


	9. Chapter 9

"Are you still coming?" Mikey grinned as he peeked over the edge of the rooftop. Without saying anything Donnie, Leo and Raph followed Mikey down the roof and onto the fire-escape. Just in front of the window.

"Cayden's room is on the other side of the building but the window is too small to go through" Mikey explained as he pushed open the window, which was obviously badly secured. Mikey gave them a last grin before he disappeared into the house.

Mostly they would have thought this was a bad idea, sneaking into someone's house, but right now, with Vic's mutation they didn't see any risk.

They all followed Mikey through the window and they landed into a relatively small bedroom. There was a bed, made for two persons. There were pictures on the wall, starring Vic, or Spider Bytez, and an unknown woman. Mikey sighed and picked up a large photo next to the bed.

"This was taken just before Cayden's mother died, the same picture is in his room." He said and showed it to them. They all swallowed slightly when they saw the picture. Instead of the angry man that called them 'karate frogs', there was a neat man. Black curls that was partly in his face, A nice suit, not too formal.

He was smiling and proudly had his arm over the shoulder of a younger woman. A beautiful, slightly shorter, woman. She had wide brown eyes and long black hair. Her skin was almost perfectly white and she had an astonishing smile.

Both Vic and the woman had their hands on the shoulder of the small boy in front of them. Hardly older than 8 years old. Cayden. He was quite muscular for his age, short black hair with gray eyes. He was smiling proudly towards the camera, directly into their eyes.

"I've never met his mother but Cayden told so much about her, he loved her" Mikey said sadly and put the picture on the table again. Mikey quickly glanced over to his brothers before walking towards the door.

"Mikey, you had to stay in your room right? But it looks like you know the house pretty well" Leo frowned when Mikey opened the door and looked into the hallway. Mikey grinned and signed for them to follow.

"Do you really think I stayed in that room for 11 years, did you ever smell his dirty socks? Not cool man" Mikey grinned and shivered slightly. Thinking of every time he was bombed with Cayden's sweaty socks. And how much they had laughed afterwards.

Mikey walked straight ahead towards another door and opened it, showing it to his new brothers.

"Well this is it" Mikey presented it and walked inside but stopped. Everything was still in place. Small things were different, which of course happened while he was away the first year, but apart from that everything was the same. The bed, the drawer, the posters, the desk, just everything.

And it wasn't really hard to guess what happened, and despite how much Mikey had hated him, he felt sorry for him. He had lost everything, his wife and now his son. And he had never dared to set a foot in Cayden's room again. After his son, and the only family he had left, had passed away he had consumed himself. Never entering Cayden's room again.

Mikey swallowed heavily and let himself fall onto the bed. He remembered so many times when he was just a little kid, not more than 5 or 6, that he would sleep with Cayden numerous times when he had a nightmare. And Cayden always allowed it.

No matter how many times Mikey had a nightmare, no matter how many times he would be complaining about anything, Cayden was always kind and caring. And in response Mikey learned to obey him. Even from a younger age he knew how much Cayden loved him, and that's why he hardly obeyed him.

"Hey ya okay?" Raph whispered as he sat down next to Mikey on the bed. Mikey merely nodded and leaned in towards Raph again, closing his eyes. They were so different from Cayden, and yet so alike. Raph snorted slightly but allowed Mikey to hug him like that and placed an arm around his shoulder.

"I think" Mikey sighed against Raph's plastron and pulled himself up, rubbing his eyes slightly. "I just… never fully realized he was really gone y'know. Maybe I was always hoping he would still come back" He stated and sighed again.

"I know little brother, but just remember he wanted this. He wanted you to live on" Donnie whispered and watched as his little brother looked up to him.

"I guess you're right" He said and just up. "Let's just get it over with, I want to get out of here" He said and pulled open one of the drawers, searching through them. So many times he had searched through them, so many times he wanted to learn more about his, only, friend.

Finding out the things he wouldn't tell him. The things he wasn't able to tell yet, or the things Mikey wasn't ready for. But now he was, and he knew Cayden would want him to do this. He soon found his brothers were looking around too, carefully going through all Cayden's stuff.

And despite the fact that he was in Cayden's room, the boy who raised him, played with him and taught him almost everything he knew. The guy who was now dead, he couldn't help but to smile. He might be dead, but he finally got his wish, a real family for Mikey, and that made him happier than he had ever been, ever.

"Mikey…" The voice of Donnie snapped him out of his thoughts and he whipped his head around, looking over to his older brother. Donnie was standing next to Cayden closet but had moved it a bit to the right, revealing the hole behind the closet, closed off with a wooden plank. Mikey looked from Donnie's eyes to the wooden plank.

This was it. Every time Mikey would ask what he was doing, every time he saw Cayden writing or drawing in some kind of notebook, he had always wondered where it had gone to. Every day he was wondering where he would hide them, but every day he failed. But seeing the plank, he knew that it was there.

And he smiled slightly, knowing there was no way he would've been able to move that heavy closet at the age of 12, maybe even now, without all the training his brothers did have. No matter how much he knew, he wouldn't have been able to move the closet.

Mikey swallowed slightly and fell to his knees in front of the wall, removing the plank, revealing a relatively large hole in the wall. Several books and diaries were piled up, neatly arranged into the hole. Mikey blinked away the tears that were threatening to slip and grabbed the books one by one. The first one was the one he had already read, obviously put back in the hole once Mikey was kicked out of the house.

The ones that followed were familiar, aside from the last 4. On each of the diaries there was a number, going from 1 till 12. One for each year Mikey soon figured. The one with a 10 being on top, the year he first discovered the diary around Cayden's room, when he forgot to put it back in the hiding place.

He wiped away some fresh tears and picked up the book with a number one. He didn't know what to expect but he just froze seeing what was in it. It was a photo book, combined with a diary. And on the first page was a picture of him, happily sleeping into the arms of a younger Cayden, just a little bit older than the boy in the picture, the one with his mom and dad.

Cayden was holding him with his right arm, while Mikey was holding Cayden's pinky. And Cayden used his left hand to make the picture.

"Second day after I found this little guy" Was written under it with proud handwriting. Mikey sighed and trailed his thick fingers along the photo. He had always wondered what he had looked like when he was young, Cayden never wanted to show him for some reason, and now he could finally see what he looked like.

"He looks so happy" Donnie mumbled in his ear and wrapped an arm around Mikey's body, pulling him closer. "Do you want to go home? We can make you some food and you'll be more comfortable." Donnie whispered and slowly reached for the book, closing it carefully. Mikey didn't complain or anything and just allowed Donnie to help him up.

"Yes please" Mikey whispered, speaking like a little child. Raph chuckled and helped Leo with getting all the books, being careful not to damage them or anything. Once every book was packed they were ready to go. Donnie, Leo and Raph both walked to the entrance of the room while Mikey stayed put.

"Just a second" He said to them and walked over to Cayden's bed, stroking his fingers along the blankets and sighed. So many times they had played on the bed, wrestling or just goofing around. Mikey chuckled slightly at the memory and withdrew his hands.

"Don't worry Cayden, I have them back. I have my family, just as you wished" Mikey whispered, too soft for his brothers to hear, this was something between Cayden and him. After that he slowly turned around and walked towards his brothers, instantly walking into a big hug from Donnie.

Donnie just chuckled and planted a quick kiss on Mikey forehead before he turned around, Raph closing the door from Cayden's room as they walked towards the exit of the room. Mikey surrounded by his brothers.

Little did they know that someone was watching them closely as they climbed out of the window, a certain black mutant spider.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn't long after they left Vic's house they arrived at the lair again. As expected Splinter was in the dojo, meditating while April was working in the kitchen, quietly doing her homework. She placed her pencil down and looked up when she heard the guys coming back.

"Hey guys, how'd it go?" She asked and walked out of the kitchen, watching as they all sat down on the couch, books stalled around them. When she had arrived at home, and noticed her turtle friends were gone, Splinter had informer her they had gone to Mikey's old 'home'.

She frowned when she received no response and glanced over to Mikey, he was unusually quiet. Even in the days she met the young turtle she soon figured out that Mikey was always active, and always laughing and jumping around.

Of course he has had his ups and downs, getting sick, his breakdown about his past, but never he had acted like this. And it sounded pretty pathetic to say it, after having known him for only a few days, but he wasn't acting like himself. It was like he wasn't even here, that he wasn't acknowledging him.

"We went to Mikey's old home" Leo confessed after a few silent minutes. April's eyes widened slightly and she walked over to the couch, sitting down on the ground, in front of Mikey. Who was now sitting cross-legged on the ground, his shell leaning against the couch, a pile of books in front of him.

"How'd it go?" April asked and watched Mikey closely. His eyes were fixed on the books in front of him and placing them in order. He was trembling slightly and some small tears were lingering in his eyes. Whatever was in the books was special to him.

"We found Cayden's old diaries" Leo said and gestured to the books in front of Mikey. "And we discovered Cayden's dad is actually Spider Bytez" Leo added unsure. April whipped her head around at that comment and stared wide-eyed towards Leo.

"Wait you mean the mutant that almost burned you guys?!" April exclaimed, her voice raising dangerously. Leo was slightly surprised by her outburst but before he could say anything Mikey opened his mouth.

"He just misses his wife and Cayden, he isn't really bad, Cayden told me how he used to be" Mikey whispered and glanced up slightly. His eyes were filled with grief and with slight fear. Raph sighed and stood up, walking over to Mikey.

"Of course we now, but he still almost killed us" Raph sat and said down next to Mikey on the ground, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "And called us Kung Fu frogs" Raph added with a grin and rubbed Mikey's head playfully. The freckled turtle laughed and gave Raph a quick hug.

Raph grinned and placed his chin on top of Mikey's head, he wasn't the guy to hug a lot, but it was different with Mikey. He loved every moment he was with Mikey, even the bad ones. He loved his other brothers sure, but none of them were really close, like hugging.

They loved each other so much, but they rarely hugged but Mikey hugged almost every day, and the weird thing was, nobody was annoyed by it. And Raph had caught himself so many times thinking about the reason behind it. Why Mikey was hugging so often.

Or course he grew up without them, and he had never had his 3 brothers until a few days ago. But maybe it was just who he was, Mikey was so different than all of them. He was carefree, happy, and enthusiastic, even after all he'd been through.

"Enough with the huggin' kid" Raph grinned and pulled out of the hug, giving Mikey a playful jab in the side. It was so weird how one boy, turtle could change their lives so much. They hadn't fought in these last few days, something they'd do like every day and the atmosphere had improved so much.

"Sorry" Mikey grinned sheepishly and turned back to the book, picking up the first one again. He looked up to Raph hesitantly, like he was waiting for permission to open it so Raph nodded towards him. Carefully Mikey opened the book and Raph immediately wrapped his arms around his little brother again.

The first page was again the picture of him and Cayden. The boy holding Mikey in his arm, while he was still a little baby and smiling towards the camera. Mikey's fingers trailed along the photo. His eyes were closed and his hand was wrapped around Cayden's pinky.

'Second day after I found this little guy' Was still written under it. Mikey stopped for a second and quickly wiped away a tear before turning the page. His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at himself. He was still a baby here and he was lying flat on his shell. His mouth was in a huge smile and he was staring right at the camera with his baby blue eyes.

'He keeps doing this, every time I try to place him down he keeps rolling onto his shell, it's kinda cute though' Was written under it, and only those few words already made Mikey cry. He could feel Raph pressing him closer to his body but he ignored it and just turned the page again. This time there wasn't a picture.

'it has been 4 days since I found the little turtle and he is growing so much! And for some reason he doesn't cry either, it's like he knows he has to be silent for my dad, not like he's home very often, and when he is he is completely drunk.

Finding this little guy was just what I needed. After mom had passed away, daddy just hasn't been the same. I still have to find a decent name for him, but I don't even know if I can do it. He doesn't belong to me, how much I already love him.

I saw the rest of his little family when i saved him, I'm just surprised the weird rat hasn't come to save him. I feel bad for him that I had grabbed him, but I had no choice, those robots were trying to get him so I had to save him. Although I couldn't save the rest, I don't even know how but this little guy has crawled away, towards the dumpster I had been hiding in.

The point is, he isn't mine, he has a real family out there, somewhere so I can't name him yet. First I have to find his family.'

Mikey stopped for a second, he always knew Cayden wanted him to find his real family but he never knew why he had no name. He was always called little one, or something like that. But now he knew, and somehow he smiled reading it, Cayden really cared about him, even if he didn't have to.

"Cayden really loved you" Raph whispered in his ear. Mikey glanced up to his older brother, grinning through the tears.

"He did" Mikey admitted before turning back to the book again, turning to the next page. There wasn't any text but there were more pictures, and all of them were adorable. Different pictures of him playing with toys, sucking a pacifier, him wearing diapers, and on all of them he was smiling, and if he wasn't he was sleeping.

Mikey smiled through his tears as he studied every photo. They were all so adorable. Seeing Cayden play with him, sometimes feeding him, and just caring about him. Mikey smiled and turned the page around.

There weren't any pictures anymore in the first book, but the remaining pages were full with diaries and experiences that Cayden had with Mikey. And it wasn't until Mikey started yawning he realized how long he had been reading in the diary.

Leo was sitting in front of the television, watching an old episode of space heroes, Donnie was nowhere to be seen and so was April. The only one who was still at his side was Raph, who had fallen asleep. His head fallen backwards, his mouth partly open. Mikey sighed and closed the book, placing it aside.

"Raph" He whispered and shook his older brother slightly but he didn't wake up. Mikey tried shaking him again. He was going to be really stiff in his neck once he'd wake up. "Raph wake up" Mikey said, slightly louder this time, which got Leo's attention.

"Finished reading?" Leo asked in a serious tone but grinned when he saw his little brother trying to wake up Raph. He chuckled and stood up, walking over to the two. "He won't wake up like that, trust me, we've tried already." Leo explained and hovered over his red-banded brother.

"The only way is to drop him but I don't think he'd appreciate it" Leo grinned and gave a playful wink towards Mikey. With a soft grunt he managed to get Raph on the couch so he would be sort off comfortable.

"C'mon, you have to sleep too, Sensei has a surprise for you tomorrow" Leo said and offered Mikey a hand. Mikey hastily picked up the remaining books and cradled it close to his plastron, like it was some kind of treasure.

Leo grinned and threw his arm over Mikey's shoulder, leading him towards his room. Sensei did have a surprise for their new little brother, a very special surprise indeed.


	11. Chapter 11

So much has happened in the last weeks. Just two weeks ago Mikey was still sleeping on the cold pavement, hidden in the dirty alley, surrounded by the awful smell that lingered around the alley. The cold nights that he had in the winter, and the occasional infection he would get.

The amount of nights he had spent curled up, trying to ignore his rumbling stomach, pain radiating through his stomach, begging for some food, but he simply had none. Ever since Cayden had died right in front of his eyes.

But then everything changed the moment he met Bradford. In a way he should be happy Bradford kidnapped him. If it wasn't for him pretending to be friends, tying him up and using him as bait, he would've never found his brothers.

And he would be still on the streets, and maybe even dead. Donnie had told him about his condition, how bad his body was and how bad his fever could've been without the medicines.

But he found his family, three brothers just like him and apparently a father, a rat named Splinter, or his human name Hamato Yoshi. He got a warm and nice home, his own room and lots of food, whenever he wanted.

Leonardo, or short Leo, was the oldest, the leader. He wore a blue bandana and used two swords, the katanas. Raphael, or Raph, was the second oldest and the typical hothead. He wore a red bandana and used the sais.

And in the little time he had spent with them he figured out that Raph wasn't really angry. He was soft and caring from the inside, and he cared a lot about his family, even Mikey. But he covered it up for some unknown reason.

Donatello, or Donnie, was the second youngest, the youngest before he came in and uses the bo-staff. And on top of all, they had a real human friend! Just like Cayden, someone who accepted them, regardless on their looks.

The last 2 weeks had been… crazy. Mikey wasn't allowed to go out with his brothers just yet, with all the enemies they had already from their few patrols. And because Mikey couldn't defend himself well enough, it just wasn't save for him.

He had been training with sensei and his brothers for the last 2 weeks, and he had improved greatly. Splinter could see that Michelangelo was a natural ninja, even if he lacked attention. The first day he started training, the day after they went to Cayden's house, Splinter had called all four of them.

The mutant rat had given his three other sons their masks and weapons on their first day of training, so that was exactly what Splinter did with Mikey. He had been so happy when he received his mask, he had been wondering a lot what mask he would be given and he was so relieved when he finally got one.

It was an orange one, and Splinter had made sure to keep it short, shorter than his brothers' masks. Splinter had explained that orange stood for sound and light, but also for joy and energy. 4 words that perfectly described the freckled turtle.

The next thing he was given was something special, even more special than his mask, an own weapon. Something his brothers had been training with their entire lives, an extension with their fighting, a weapon they lived and breathed with.

Splinter gave him a pair of nun-chucks, which he could 'upgrade' to a kusarigama. He loved the weapon but he also knew it was extremely difficult. He had seen many street gangs using it, or trying to use it. But none of them succeeded.

But Splinter was the best teacher a turtle could get, and his brothers were there to help him whenever he needed it. Splinter knew how to use the weapon, and immediately taught him all the basics. Many nights Mikey had been sitting in his room, or the dojo, trying out his new weapon.

He wasn't nearly as bad as Leo, who trained almost constantly, but he tried his best to master his weapon. Leo meditated with him a lot, teaching him the techniques and giving him advice. But they soon figured that Mikey wasn't very good with concentrating, no matter how hard he tried. But Leo wasn't giving up, and neither was Mikey.

Raph taught him to fight, the stances and different kata's. He couldn't combine them with his weapons but he could teach him to punch properly, to defend himself and just basic things. They trained his muscles, his durability and just every basic fighting technique.

Donnie taught him a lot, Cayden used to teach him stuff but ever since he was kicked on the streets, and Cayden was killed, he hadn't been taught. So the genius brother took that job. Mikey wasn't the best learner, but he was eager to do so.

Cayden had taught him a lot already, but there were so many things he didn't know, and his brothers did. So Donnie kept himself busy teaching his little brother those things. April visited often, bringing Mikey presents and just being a big sister for him.

It seemed a bit naïve, but Mikey saw April a bit as the mother he, and Cayden, never had. She often cooked for them, since none of his brothers could, and Mikey often helped April with it, and soon found out he really enjoyed cooking.

The relationship with his father improved so much. He had no right to be scared of his father after all. It wasn't because he was a giant rat, he was a turtle after all, he just had a really bad experience with fathers.

He grew up without one, and the only father he knew was the father of Cayden, and he wasn't a pleasant one. Constantly drunk, sometimes even hitting Cayden. And pushing him onto the streets when he was discovered.

And Mikey couldn't dismiss the thought that Cayden's father, Vic, was the reason for all the trouble he had been in the last 3 years. If he had just accepted Mikey, then Cayden never had visited him on the streets, and they wouldn't have been ambushed by that gang, and Cayden would have never been killed.

But that was also something he didn't like to think about, how much he hated it, if Cayden hadn't died, he would've never found his family, and the thing that bothered him, he had no idea which option he preferred. He missed Cayden dearly, but he loved his new family with his whole heart.

He just wished Cayden was still with him, and his family too. He knew Cayden would be happy he was with his real family after 15 years, that was something Cayden had always wanted after all.

The last two weeks was something he had never experienced in his entire life. He knew his brothers were ninjas, and they fought regularly with bad guys, but actually seeing it right in front of him was something different, seeing their bruises, cuts and their exhausted faces.

A crazy man called Baxter Stockman, who used Donnie's T-pod,to upgrade his technology, and who they eventually defeated, but of course not without getting hurt. And it was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.

Donnie had assured him it wasn't bad, and it wasn't, but the burn wounds were still terrifying. But like always, his brothers were there to comfort him, and eventually Mikey even helped with bandaging his brothers.

And if the mad scientist wasn't enough, Donnie invented this robot called Metal-head, which eventually almost killed his brothers. He could still remember how hard he had laughed when Donnie started flirting with April, when he thought she couldn't hear him.

But that soon changed when Metal-head was taken over by a Kraang, and Donnie had to help his family. Mikey wanted to come too, but Donnie said he wasn't ready, and Mikey stayed home with his father, waiting for his brothers to return safely, and eventually Donnie rescued his family.

He had seen Donnie getting beaten by a giant lab monkey mutant another day, which was eventually a real human scientist, and his first real mission. Once they needed to chase the mutant monkey, they figured it would be the perfect first mission for Mikey, using his incredible speed.

But it ended with him being knocked out cold. And when he woke up, the fight was already over, and it left him with a throbbing headache for the remaining day.

The day after April had taken them to a noodle shop, owned by a blind guy. Which went downhill once he was kidnapped by Xever and Bradford, and that was also the moment Mikey wasn't allowed to come anymore, it would be too dangerous.

Mikey didn't mind honestly, he had no need to get involved in a dangerous fight like that, even though he wanted to help his brothers as much as possible.

TMNT

Mikey sighed and slowly lowered himself on the couch again, staring at the photo in his hands. It was a picture from 7 years ago, he was 8. Cayden was next to him, his arm around his shoulders and smiling at the camera.

Out of all the photos, he liked this one the most. He didn't know why but he did. Cayden still looked so young, too young to be a father, a teacher, someone to raise a child, but still he did. And Mikey was grateful for that.

He dropped his arm to the right, staring at the ceiling instead. He was bored. His brothers were on a mission again. Trying to rescue April's dad from the Kraang, and Mikey had nothing to do. He still wasn't allowed to come along, not like he wanted to, the pink jelly aliens still freaked him out big time.

But he was bored, there was nothing fun on the television, he had perfected every stance and every kata he had been learning with Splinter until now. He could do everything with his nun-chucks he needed to be able to do, and there was just nothing to do.

Splinter was mediating in his room, and Mikey knew better than to disturb him. So he just lay there, waiting for his brothers to come back, praying they would be unharmed.

Mikey was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps entering the lair. He jumped up, expecting to see his brothers but he soon figured it was April. Slight disappointment rushed over him, but he felt relieved at the same time, relieved at least April was okay. But his brothers were still out there.

"April!" Mikey beamed and ran towards her, hugging her firmly. He couldn't hear the muffled reply of his human friend but froze when April buried her face in the crook in Mikey's neck, something the freckled turtle had done a lot with her, and right now it was April who was crying.

Mikey felt bad for her, even though he had no idea what happened. But he knew April didn't cry often, and something bad must've happened to make her cry. Mikey wrapped his arms around April and pulled her even closer.

"What's wrong?" Mikey whispered as he pressed his plastron even harder against April, something April would always do once Mikey would be upset. Mikey could hear April sniffle in his hold and slowly pulling out of hug. Her eyes were red from crying and she had a defeated look on her face.

"Sit down" Mikey insisted and lightly pushed April towards the couch, obligating her to sit down. He walked behind her and sat right next to her, taking her hand. April drew a big breath and looked over to Mikey.

"It's my father" She said after a while. " H-he…. We g-got him and then the k-Kraang discovered us… a-and there were too many, a-and my father s-sacrificed so we could get out…. B-but he was captured again" April hiccupped.

"What happened after that?" Mikey whispered, he felt bad for April, very bad, he knew how she was dealing with not having her father around, but he was afraid for his brothers too. They weren't home with April, and he had no idea where they were.

"There was a bomb…. And… I mean.. they are safe but the Kraang was going to cover the whole city with mutagen and…." April stopped mid-sentence and stood up. "I'm sorry, give me a second" She whispered and ran away, towards the bathroom.

Mikey sighed and buried his face in his hands, rubbing his face slightly. He couldn't stand seeing April so defeated, it killed him inside. He hated seeing anyone upset like that, his brothers, his family. Cayden rarely cried in front of him, but the times he did he hated it. And he hated seeing April upset over her father like that.

Suddenly there was a beeping sound. Mikey's head shot up and looked next to him, where April's phone was. Her screen was on, a picture of Donnie on the display. Mikey quickly glanced towards the bathroom and picked up the phone, reading the message.

'Need to disable the bomb, we need the supplies as soon as possible, there is not much time left' was written in the text. Mikey's heart skipped a beat, his brothers were in trouble. He glanced towards the bathroom, April was in no state to go, not when she missed her dad like that.

And in seconds he made his decision. He placed April's phone on its original place and walked over to Donnie's lab, quickly taking the right equipment he would need, which was luckily all labeled. He grabbed his nun-chucks and quickly looked into the mirror.

He really looked like his brothers, the same bandages around his feet and wrists, the belt, his nun-chuck holders and the mask. He steadied the back with equipment and ran out of the lair, using his incredible speed. Not knowing the danger he was getting himself into.


	12. Chapter 12

He ran as fast as he could, using the wind and his natural speed, faster and faster. The wind was blowing in his shell, speeding him up. The bag on his back was bouncing slightly, pressing the equipment against his shell but it wasn't bothering him.

Instead he just focused on getting to the TCRI building, delivering the stuff Donnie would need. After everything they had done for him, this was the least he could do for them. They had fed him, treated him, and accepted him, and that was something he was never be able to repay.

Mikey stopped running when the building came into his sight. It was so big and practically shining green ooze, it amazement him he never noticed it before. On the other side, he had never been here before, he always stayed at the same place, where he knew everything.

He shrugged it off and continued to walk, jumping on top of the building, and he was immediately greeted by the familiar sight of his three older brothers, all sitting in front of something, all concentrated.

"Careful!" Leo exclaimed, looking over Donnie's shoulder. Which earned him the deadliest glare Mikey had ever seen and he was too late containing a chuckle himself, immediately three heads shot up, looking confused and angry.

"Mikey?! What the shell are ya doing?" Raph called out, raising his arms in frustration. Figuring he was caught anyways he jumped down, landing besides his brothers and proudly presenting the bag to Donnie.

"Brought you the stuff you needed" Mikey grinned. Donnie quickly took the bag and took the bag and looked inside, taking out some material he would need. Mikey glanced over to Leo and Raph, and winced slightly, anger written over their faces, but also fear.

"Why did you come here? Where's April, you know this is dangerous!" Leo exclaimed, gripping Mikey's shoulders and shaking him. Mikey chuckled and took Leo's hands, taking them off his own shoulder.

"I know Leo, and I'm sorry but April was in no state to come, so I thought I'd help" Mikey explained with a grin. Donnie wasn't even paying attention, more focusing on defusing the bomb in front of him, while Leo and Raph were still angry with Mikey.

"Raph, take Mikey home now" Leo said in a leader tone, Mikey's eyes widened and opened his mouth, but Leo cut him off. "You know it is too dangerous Mikey, you are not good enough yet to protect yourself" Leo reasoned and nodded towards Raph.

"Sorry little bro, I don't like you getting hurt, neither of us do. But thanks anyways" Raph said and wrapped an arm around Mikey. The freckled turtle sighed and bowed his head, allowing Raph to take him home.

"Donnie, you are going to have to speed this up" Leo nervously said, watching closely behind Donnie. The purple banded turtle was sweating and his eyes were narrowed with concentration. While Raph continued to walk Mikey towards the edge of the rooftop.

"I cannot work with all this pressure!" Donnie snapped, grabbing both sides of his head. Mikey almost snickered at Donnie's bad temper but paled when two figures landed in front of him and Raph. Fear and determination rushed over him.

He knew those two, Xever and Bradford, his ex-friend, the one who tied him up. Raph growled and grabbed his sais and Mikey did the same with his nun-chucks, slowly taking a step backwards, towards Donnie and Leo again.

"Uhm" Mikey whimpered. "That might be a problem" as he stared wide-eyes at the two humans approaching him. Bradford raised his fist and before anyone could react Mikey felt it connecting with his plastron, kicking him into the wall next to Leo, followed by Raph.

Mikey groaned slightly but soon figured his plastron protected him from any real damage. He lifted his head, looking over to the two humans slowly approaching him.

"Donnie, keep working on the bomb, we'll distract them" Leo ordered, standing in front of Mikey and Raph. "Mikey, stay with Don" Leo ordered and then jumped towards Bradford, sending him backwards. Leo drew his katana's and held them in front of him, while Raph took out his own sais.

Xever growled and charged in on Raph, trying to kick and punch him, but Raph avoided every attack Xever tried to land on him. He blocked the attacks while punching and kicking him in return, creating more and more distance between him and Mikey.

"Don't go for him you idiot, Master Shredder wants the small one" Bradford growled as he slammed Leo to the side, sprinting towards Mikey, his eyes narrowed. Xever snorted and gave a round-kick, that hit Raph squire in the beak.

Raph yelped slightly and fell to the ground, angrily rubbing his beak. His eyes flew open when a high scream echoed through the air, Mikey. His head snapped up, looking over to Mikey, who was hastily dodging both Xever and Bradford.

"Keep away from him!" Leo snapped as he charged in on Xever, just as he wanted to hit Mikey. The freckled turtle was now down on the ground, Bradford hovering over him. Mikey whimpered slightly as the giant human raised his sword, and Mikey could just grab his nun-chucks to deflect the attack, before the sword went down.

Mikey's eyes narrowed despite the fear he was feeling, the sword was just inches away from his face, almost touching his face and definitely slicing it. Bradford narrowed his eyes too, and for a moment they just stared, their weapons in their hands.

Sweat was starting to trickle down his forehead. Screams were around him but he could only focus on the eyes of his enemy. His arms were shaking from the force the sword applied to his nun-chuck, and it surprised him it didn't just snap already.

Mikey's eyes widened when a shadow appeared behind Bradford, but soon recognized it as his older brother. Leaping into the air to strike the human, but before he could do so, Bradford had already left Mikey alone, facing Leo instead.

Mikey quickly scrambled to his feet, staring as Leo was thrown away onto the ground.

"I've had enough of you turtle" Bradford hissed and stepped on Leo's plastron hard, so he couldn't more. He raised his sword and was ready to pierce Leo. Mikey was frozen in place, his eyes wide with fear as he looked at the scene in front of him.

"I don't think so" Leo responded and plunged a tanto in Bradford's foot. Immediately Bradford jerked his feet away, roaring in pain. Leo kicked the distracted human away, hurrying over to Mikey. "You okay?!" He exclaimed, helping Mikey on his feet again.

"I'm fin….." Mikey wanted to say but was silenced when he felt a strong hand grabbing his shell. He yelped and began to kick, fending off his enemy but he wasn't strong enough, and within seconds he found himself flowing backwards.

He let out a low grunt as his shell connected with the glass, containing the mutagen. He winced slightly, watching the glowing ooze up close. He knew he couldn't touch it, hence it would mutate him again, or worse.

His eyes widened when a shadow covered him and he froze again, slowly looking up, his eyes locking into Xever's eyes. But before the thief could only deal a single blow, his vision was blocked by Raph, his sais drawn.

"You, keep away from him!" Raph snarled, charging in on the human. His movements were hasty and sloppy, blinded with rage. Rage for the humans who even dared to hurt his defenseless little brother. He tried to hit Xever another time, but this attack was also easily deflected.

"You are getting sloppy" Xever smirked as he did a round-house kick, sending Raph a few meters back, slamming him full into Mikey. Raph groaned slightly, scrambling to his feet again, standing in front of Mikey.

"Guys!" Donnie's voice suddenly exclaimed. "I did it, I defused the bomb!" He cheered, unaware of Xever approaching Raph. The red banded turtle growled as he deflected another attack. He could feel Mikey behind him, sometimes whimpering slightly but kept silent.

"That's great genius, care to help us here?!" Raph snapped as he kicked Xever in the chest, sending him back slightly. From the corner of his eye he saw a flash of purple joining Leo, who were now leading Bradford up to the platform they were standing on.

Raph smirked as he saw Bradford being forced on the platform, unable to fight back now Don had joined Leo. Raph took a deep breath as he began to attack again, vowing not to get angry, he just had to follow his brothers and force the two humans together.

A flash of uncertainty was seen on Xever's face when he was suddenly pushed into Bradford's back. Raph smirked slightly, pointing his sai to Xever, while Leo did the same with his katana's.

"You were worth the adversary, but the fight is ours" Leo stated, a small smirk on his face. "Lay down your weapons, you've lost" He demanded, watching the humans closely, expecting a surprise attack.

"Never!" Xever exclaimed, hastily searching for a way out, but there was simply none, the only two ways out were blocked by the turtles. Droplets of sweat trickling down his forehead, he knew he was defeated.

"If I'm going down…" Bradford started, searching with his eyes for a way out, until they fell on the mutagen tank next to him. "I'm taking you with me" and with that his sword disappeared into the glass, breaking it and reaching the glowing ooze.

"NO!" Leo exclaimed, but he was too late and the glass began to crack, until all the mutagen was shot out of its container, practically washing Xever and Bradford away. Leo exchanged some quick glanced before they all jumped down, watching as the mutagen seeped away.

But the humans were nowhere to be seen, and then realization hit them, it was over.

"You okay?" Raph asked as he turned around, facing Mikey. Apart from the few bruises that he had on his body, he seemed fine. But they all noticed how their little brother was shaking on his feet, and hadn't said anything since he was thrown away.

"I'm okay… " Mikey whispered. Raph narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying it, and even Donnie and Leo were frowning. "Seriously, just sore… it just … surprised me.. y'know the whole fight.. it was pretty scary" Mikey admitted, slightly ashamed for feeling that way.

Immediately the hardened expressions of his brothers softened. Leo stepped forwards, wrapping his arms around the shaking turtle. Mikey allowed his older brother to hug him, and burrowed his face in Leo's neck.

"You don't have to explain Mikey, we get it" Leo whispered as he stroke the back of Mikey's head slightly. They hadn't realized this was Mikey's first real battle, and they almost lost it, and that was something that scared the small turtle.

Leo could still recall the fear he had felt just minutes ago, but for Mikey this was all new, nothing he had ever experienced. They had all been fighting the last weeks, and they had been prepared for over 15 years, but Mikey hadn't.

"Why all the sad faces, we won remember?" Donnie grinned as he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder. The freckled turtle pulled from Leo's hug and looked over to his grinning brother, grinning too.

"Yeah, we kicked the butts of the Kraang and Shredder's top henchmen while defusing a bomb and saving the city" Leo grinned as he looked between his brothers.

"We're not overconfident" Raph smirked, remembring what their father said this morning, about them being overconfident and not being ready for everything they had to face.

"We're just that good" Leo winked, smiling to all his brothers, who all returned the smile. "Alright, let's get home before…." Leo started but was unable to finish his sentece as another voice beamed through the air.

"Your skills are impressive… but they will not save you"


	13. Chapter 13

"Your skills are impressive… but they will not save you" An armored man said, jumping down so he was just a few metres away from the turtles. Mikey whimpered slightly, ducking behind Donnie, and Raph and Leo stepped in front of their younger siblings.

"D-do you think… that's the Shredder?" Donnie gulping, taking Mikey's hand and squezing it slightly, taking his bo-staff with his other hand. Both Raph and Leo did the same, grabbing their katana's and sais. Donnie could feel Mikey gribbing his hand tighter, definitely scared out of his shell.

"Well it's definitely a shredder" Raph said, narrowing his eyes but he didn't charge in yet, watching the movements of their new opponent. And unlike the enemies they have encountered before, the Shredder wasn't surprised seeing four giant turtles and just walked up to them.

"There is undoubtingly a fascinating story in how my old nemesis came to teach ninjistu to four mutant turtles. Perhaps I shall let one of you live long enough to tell it" Shredder said and roared, charging in on the four mutants.

Raph growled and charged in too, meeting half-way. Raph extended his sais, ready to stab the Shredder but his attack was easily deflected. Shredder growled, loonking into Raph's green eyes. Raph gulped slightly and before he knew he was flying through the air.

There was a chocked scream and then a loud bang, shell slamming into something solid. "Raph!" Leo screamed as loud as he could, watching as his little brother got electrocuted and screaming in pain, until he hit the ground with a loud thud, not moving.

"Donnie, stay with Mikey!" Leo yelled before he charged in too, leaving Donnie and Mikey alone. Leo let out an own battle cried as he tried to land an attack on the Shredder, but within second Shredder managed to punch him into his plastron.

Leo grunted when his side came into contact with the ground, wrapping his arms around his hurting plastron before a hard kick send him backwards. Where he kept, laying motionless.

"Leo!" Donnie yelled out, untangling his hand from Mikey's hand. "Stay here!" Donnie yelled before running towards his unconscious brother. He placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, vowing himself to stay calm but he wasn't, his two brothers were unconscious and the Shredder was approaching him.

He gribbed his bo-staff even tighter, narrowing his eyes. He would protect his brothers no matter what, or die trying. And with that he charged in on the Shredder, trying to hit him with his staff. But even the first attack was deflected. Shredder grabbed his weapon, using it to jab Donnie himself and knocking him down.

Donnie's eyes were wide open, looking at the blades in Shredder's gauntlet, ready to strike. But was interrupted when a familiar voice screamed through the air. Donnie cringed slightly.

"Keep away from him!" Mikey yelled and threw his chain, wanting it to wrap around Shredder's gauntlet but he missed miserably. Mikey's eyes widened as Shredder began to ran towards him instead. Before Mikey could even react he felt a strong hand wrap around his throat.

"Pathetic" Shredder growled as he began to squeze Mikey's throat. Fear began to built in his stomach but he quickly flipped out the blade hidden in his weapon, jabbing it right into the exposed flesh of the Shredder. The shredder roared in pain, not expecting the blow from the unexperienced turtle and angrily threw him away.

The throw was hard enough to sent him over the edge, but Mikey quickly grabbed the edge. Mikey gulped as he looked down, the streets far below him. Above him he could hear Leo and Donnie fighting again, but still no Raph, which meant he was still on the place he was electrocuted.

Figuring he couldn't do much in the fight he began to climb towards the place where Raph was, using the small edge he could stand on, he slowly began to walk around the building, making sure the Shredder wasn't noticing him.

He could hear the painful grunts of his older brother as he began to climb towards the top. He quickly jumped on top of the platfrom, seeing Raph flat on his plastron, his eyes closed. The scent of burning flesh was heavy and Mikey winced slightly.

"Raph?" He whispered, placing a hand on Raph's shell. A low grunt came from beneath him. He carefully grabbed both sides of Raph's shell, turning him around. Raph coughed slightly, slowly blinking his eyes and looking over to Mikey.

"I'm okay" Raph grunted as he lifted himself up, supported by Mikey. "Listen kid, this guy's dangerous, go home, we'll be okay" Raph grunted as he stood up, rotating his sore muscles and checking himself for any obvious injuries, but apart from the shock he didn't have any serious ones.

"But Raph…" Mikey began, wanting to protest. He couldn't just leave his family behind, but before he could finish his sentence Raph gripped his shoulders, narrowing his eyes.

"We will be okay, go home and wait for us there" He said and turned around, grabbing his sais. "Got it?" He questioned as he looked down, ready to jump down. And before Mikey could answer him he jumped down with a loud yell, right on top of the Shredder, who was now hovering over Leo and Donnie, ready to kill them.

Mikey wanted to turn around, just run away like Raph asked him but he couldn't. The grunts coming from the fight below was too much. Raph was already injured, electrocuted, there was no way he could win from the Shredder, not when they couldn't even win from him with the four of them.

And within seconds he stood on the edge and threw his chain again. Raph was on the ground too, staring wide-eyed at the blade approaching him but before it could hit him a long chain wrapped around the gauntlet, this time with success.

"Mikey get outta here!" Raph screamed as loud as he could but it was no use. Shredder whipped his head around, staring at the orange banded turtle. A small smile appearing on his face. Mikey's eyes were white and narrowed with determination.

The Shredder snickered, wanting to pull the young turtle off the platform but his movements were slow, not expecting much of a fight from the unexperienced turtle. Mikey jumped down, using his weight to pull the Shredder up.

Mikey flicked out the blade in his weapon, putting it under a pipe, so it was secured. He dropped himself, dropping onto his feet hastily. He grinned slightly and looked up but the smile was quickly replaced with the fear.

An icy scream erupted from his throat as he saw a piece of the giant sign coming towards him, and before he could do anything it landed on him, slamming him down. Shredder snorted, jumping down.

"No.." Raph whispered as he sprinted towards the sign, Leo and Donnie behind him. "Don't do this bro" Raph pleaded as they could just lift the sign. His head was pounding painfully, sweat trickling down his forehead as he stared wide-eyed at the sign, he had to be okay, he had to be safe.

Raph gritted his teeth, looking over to the Shredder. Sparkles were falling down on his armor, and he was just standing there, staring down at them, like they weren't even worth the fight. Raph's head snapped back to the sign when a slow grunt came underneath it.

Slowly a green figure scrambled underneath the sign, wincing slightly but he froze when he looked up, directly looking into Shredder's eyes. Raph immediately released the sign, stepping in front of Mikey, while Donnie and Leo did the same.

There was a strong silence, wind rushing next to them as they all held their weapons, even Mikey. Bruises were all over their body, cuts and blood covering their body. Their plastrons and shells full of scratches and dirt.

Eyes narrowed with determination. And then Shredder jumped towards them. It all seemed to go in slow motion. They jumped in too, fighting for their lives but they were easily defeated. Punches landed on their bodies, and they could merely protest, exhausted and injured.

Leo, Raph and Don were all on the ground, too injured to fight back. Mikey drew his weapons, but he knew it was in vain. His brothers weren't even skilled enough to defeat the Shredder, and the only time he managed to land a blow on the Shredder was by surprise.

One hand was twirling the nun-chuck, how Splinter had taught him while the other one was holding his chest, his ribs burning. A yelp escaped his throat when Shredder grabbed him with ease, throwing him against the wall.

Mikey grunted slightly when his sore shell connected with the wall. Shredder raised his gauntlet and Mikey closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. Wind rushing past the blades and then it connected with the wall.

But the pain never came, he never felt the blade entering his throat. Confused he opened his eyes, only to see Shredder's gauntlet on both sides of him, around his neck so he was unable to escape. His left hand pressing on his shoulder.

"I knew you were weak" Shredder growled, narrowing his eyes again. A blade came out of the gauntlet, slowly approaching Mikey's throat. "Tell me where Splinter is, and I promise you your demise will be swift"

Mikey's eyes widened again, staring at the blade, almost touching his neck. He was afraid, terrified even but he wasn't going to betray his brothers, no matter what. The blade neared, and was now lightly nicking his neck, it wasn't enough to break his skin but it wasn't a nice feeling.

Suddenly a chocked breath came from behind the Shredder. Mikey gasped as Shredder whipped around, looking towards the source of the sound. Mikey immediately scrambled back, wincing because of his sore body and was immediately helped to his feet by his brothers.

On the ground, covered in mutagen were 2 mutants. Some kind of giant dog and a giant fish. The green ooze seemed to be covering them everywhere, and it was clear they were in obvious pain from the mutagen.

"H-Help… m-me" The fish chocked, extending his shaky hand. And that's when realization hit him, it was Xever, and the dog must be Bradford. Mikey slowly scrambled backwards, his brothers doing the same, they had to flee now.

"What is this?! Xever, Bradford!" Shredder exclaimed and whipped his head around, only to stare in space, the turtles nowhere to be seen. "NOOOO!" He roared but before he could do anything, they had slipped into the sewers already, injured and defeated.

TMNT

The mood was horrible, nobody said anything. Silence covering the living room. Raph was sitting on the couch, leaning with his shell against the edge. His skin was dirty, filled with bruises and cuts. Dried blood all over his skin.

Leo was sitting on the ground, holding his arm up for April, as she carefully cleaned the wound. Leo would occasionally cringe and yelp at the stinging sensation but apart from that he was silent, and just like Raph, and frankly the rest of his brothers, he was covered with cuts and dried blood.

His arm had been sliced by the Shredder, it wasn't deep but April had to clean it, before infection could set in. Donnie was sitting cross-legged on the couch, behind Mikey and carefully pressing his sides, trying to determine if anything was broken.

Occasional hisses came from the young turtle as Donnie continuously stabbed his side but Donnie didn't stop, he had to make sure Mikey hadn't broken any of his ribs when that sign landed right on top of him. His shell may have protected him from getting totally crushed, but it couldn't protect him from everything.

"You were all very lucky" Splinter sighed as he pressed his two fingers on top of Raph's plastron, he too feeling if something had been broken during the battle against the Shredder. And just like Mikey he would occasionally hiss, but he was mostly trying to cover it up.

"Well I think we define that word differently sensei" Raph grunted and hissed, as Splinter jabbed his sore plastron again. Splinter sighed and stood up, none of his ribs were broken but it would be clear his plastron would be very sore for the following days.

"Few have ever faced the Shredder and survived" Splinter said slowly, walking over to his oldest son, who was biting his lip as April was slowly cleaning the cut from the dried blood, opening the wound in return.

"He was just so fast" Donnie mumbled as he began to wrap Mikey's chest. His ribs weren't broken, just badly bruised so Donnie would wrap them just to be sure. So they would heal properly and wasn't risking further damage.

"It was like he was everywhere at once" Donnie added as he secured the bandages around Mikey's chest so they wouldn't fall off that easily before he went to the smaller cuts and bruises on his body.

"You were right, about his being over confident" Leo said as April pierced his skin with the needle. Starting to stitch the slash in his arm. "There are things we're just not ready for" Leo sighed and bowed his head in shame.

"Perhaps, but that no longer matters" Splinter started. Leo looked up slowly, and so did the rest. "It is clear that the Shredder is a problem that will not go away, so prepare yourselves my sons, because as of this moment, we are at war"

Everyone bowed their heads at the comment. Somehow they already knew it wasn't over, not even close, but actually hearing it scared them a lot. Slowly Splinter stood up, patting Leo's shoulder and turning to the rest.

"I will be mediating on this matter, you should all rest for now, it is late already" He announced, slowly walking away. They all watched as their sensei disappeared, leaving them alone. April sighed and continued stitching Leo's arm.

"Mikey" Leo whispered. Quickly Mikey glanced over to Leo, but kept his head low. "You okay? you have been quiet ever since we got home" Leo asked, quickly glancing over to his own arm too just as April began to wrap it up with bandages.

"You guys got hurt because of me" Mikey whispered after a short silence. Mikey gulped as he felt 4 pairs of eyes watching over him. But just as before he kept his head low, just focusing on Donnie checking over his injuries.

"It's true, you guys had to protect me and… " He stopped mid-sentence, not really knowing how to continue himself. Mikey sighed slightly and glanced over to Donnie, wrapping up one of his worst cuts, but too shallow to be stitched.

They all weren't deadly injured, but it was worse than they had ever had. Worse than the time Donnie was beaten up by that lab monkey, or the time they came home from their battle with Xever and Bradford, when they had kidnapped that blind guy.

"Mikey, ya know we would've gotten hurt anyways" Raph growled, crossing his arms over his chest and wincing slightly when he put pressure on it, but he quickly concealed it. "And if you didn't bring all that stuff, the whole city would be mutated now, you did good tonight" Raph added with a slight grin.

Mikey slowly lifted his head, revealing his baby blue eyes, filled with tears, but they weren't spilling yet. "B-but you had to save me countless times, I was just a burden today" Mikey stuttered slightly, not being able to speak properly, too ashamed of what happened.

"Now yer just being ridiculous. That guy was crazy good, there was no way we could've won" Raph exclaimed. "Besides, ya saved our asses too" Raph added.

"Yeah, which resulted in me being burrowed under that giant sign" Mikey huffed, gesturing to his busted ribs, and shivered slightly, still remembering the sign approaching him until he was completely covered with darkness.

"That wasn't really pretty, no." Leo cut in, chuckling slightly. Mikey looked towards Leo, and despite his mood, chuckled slightly. "But you still saved us, and it doesn't matter how much we had to save you, because that's what brothers do remember?" Leo added.

"Thanks guys, that means a lot to me" Mikey whispered, as his eyes began to water again. Leo sighed slightly as he scrambled to his feet and walking over to Mikey, wrapping his arms around Mikey. Donnie chuckled and did the same, taking his two brothers into a hug.

"So are you going to join us or not?" Leo grinned, looking over to Raph and April. A small smile appeared on April's face, walking over to the group hug too but Raph hesitated for a bit. Mikey peeked up slightly, looking over to Raph with his giant blue eyes.

"Alright, just don't gimme those eyes knucklehead" Raph exclaimed as he walked over to Mikey too, awkwardly sitting near them but within seconds Leo took him into the hug, pressing him towards the middle so he was totally surrounded by his brothers, Mikey next to him.

"I love you all guys" Mikey sighed, closing his eyes for a bit.

TMNT

"Well, I'm going to sleep guys, don't stay up to late" Leo announced, standing up from the couch, being careful not to jostle his injured arm. His body was still extremely sore but it wasn't as bad as before. April was already sleeping but the four turtles were still in the living room, watching TV, all huddled together.

"Me too" Donnie said, yawning slightly and standing up too. "Get some rest you two" Donnie said towards Raph and Mikey before walking behind Leo to their rooms. Raph chuckled and dropped his head.

Mikey was laying on top of him, using Raph's legs as a pillow and his eyes closed, but clearly not asleep as he was humming slightly. His chest was wrapped in white bandages but they didn't seem to bother him but Raph knew that was because he wasn't moving too much.

"I'm going too knucklehead, ya coming?" Raph asked, facing his little brother. Slowly Mikey opened his eyes, staring right into Raph's eyes. Slowly he scrambled up, wincing because of his ribs but he managed to get into a sitting position.

"In a minute" Mikey said as Raph already stood up, yawning just like Donnie had done minutes ago. "I have to do something first." Mikey said, glancing over to the dojo. Raph shrugged slightly, patting Mikey's shoulder.

"Don't make it too late, being hurt doesn't mean ya can skip meditation" Raph grinned as he walked past Mikey, leaving him alone. Mikey chuckled slightly and walked off to, but instead going to his room, he walked towards the dojo.

The dojo was dark, apart from the faint light that was in it, and he wasn't lying when he said the dark scared him slightly, but he pushed it away. He stopped for a second in front of Splinter's room, taking a deep breath.

"Sensei?" Mikey whispered as he opened the room, taking a look inside. The lights were all on, indicating he was still awake. And just as expected he was sitting in the middle of the room, in the mediation stance and facing Mikey.

"Come in my son" Splinter said as he opened his eyes. Mikey gulped slightly and took a few steps inside, walking over to his sensei. "What is it you want to tell me Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, gesturing for Mikey to sit.

Mikey felt a shiver going up his spine, even after 2 weeks he still found it creepy how Splinter, his 'father', seemed to know everything. Whenever he was lying or wanting to say something, was troubled or just something going on.

"Do your ribs hurt?" Splinter asked, raising a single eyebrow. Mikey looked up and shook his head, his ribs weren't hurting, not anymore. He frowned slightly, he actually had no idea what he came for himself.

"I just want to…" He stopped for a moment, what did he want? He gulped slightly but Splinter was patient, waiting for his youngest son to say something. "I just want to thank you, for everything" Mikey said after a while.

"You took me in without hesitation, treated me like your real son and gave me a family I never had" Mikey explained, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. "And you trained me and I never really thanked you and all" Mikey said, slightly awkward.

"Michelangelo, I did all of that because I see you like that" Splinter said, Mikey frowned slightly, looking up to his sensei. "It doesn't matter if I met you 2 weeks ago, I have waited for you all these years, and meeting you was one of the best moments in my life" He said.

"From the moment Leonardo informed me of you, and the moment I saw you I already thought of you as my son, and you don't have to thank me for that" Splinter finished, a small smile was lingering on Mikey lips, tears again lingering in his eyes as he shot forwards, wrapping his arms around his father's waist.

He smiled through the tears, burrowing his face into his fur. Splinter's face softened and he wrapped his arms around his youngest son, feeling the texture of his son's shell, it was smaller than the shells of his other three sons, but yet so familiar.

"Thank you, father" Mikey whispered in his fur, tears still leaking down but a smile lingering on his face. Splinter felt a smile finding its way over his face too. The words of his son warming his heart. He had noticed Michelangelo's withdrawn attitude the last weeks towards him.

And hearing his youngest son acknowledging him as his father for the first time in his life, made him the most happiest man, or rat, in the world.

"I love you too my son" Splinter said through his own tears, tightening his grip on his son, allowing him to cry in his fur. His lost son was finally home with him. And finally, after 15 years their family was complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is officially the end of the story, for everyone who followed it, and reviewed it, thank you so much!
> 
> I'm kinda sad this is over, because I really loved writing it, and I thought this was the right moment to stop it, and to be honest, I kinda lost inspiration too, but I like the ending ^^
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reviewing and all! You mean the world to me!
> 
> Thanks!


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